Witch's Sin
by Evilkitten3
Summary: Sometimes, putting broken things back together is easy. Sometimes it isn't. This isn't a fairy tale, and it sure as hell isn't Fairy Tail, but it's what they've got and they'll have to make do with it. A non-chronological series of Crime Sorcière oneshots, starring Jellal, Merudy, Ultear, Erik, Richard, Sorano, Macbeth, and Sawyer (and sometimes a few others).
1. Repercussions

**AN: I've been tossing around a few ideas in my head lately, and the biggest ten were 'what if' plots for Fairy Tail stories. First, what if Ultear brainwashed Erza instead of Jellal? Second, what if Ultear failed to brainwash Jellal, and the Tower of Heaven Rebellion was successful? Third, what if Siegrain actually was a real person, as many fans have speculated? Fourth, what if Gajeel was the one that heard about the 'Salamander' in Hargeon and went with Juvia to see if it was Metalicana, rather than Natsu and Happy looking for Igneel? Fifth, what if it was Wendy and Carla looking for Grandine? Sixth, what if someone saved Minerva from her father's abuse? Seventh, what if Ultear actually spoke to Ur instead of making assumptions? Eighth, what if Jellal, Erza, and the others never escaped from the Tower at all? Ninth, what if Kagura had been taken to the Tower instead of Erza? Tenth, what if Ultear and Meredy stayed behind to help Fairy Tail fight Acnologia, and nobody broke Jellal out of prison? All of these should make it pretty obvious as to whom my favorite characters to write about are, but I wanted to see what the people who actually read my crap thought. Thus, while I ponder over which of those plot bunnies should become a story once I've finished 'Deicide', I've decided to make a bunch of oneshots of my favorite guild, Crime Sorcière, and all their anti-hero wackiness. Some of these might be connected, but don't assume that they're in chronological order, 'cause they're probably not. Also, I haven't always used the official spelling, but that's what I'm going to do from now on, so 'Meredy' will be 'Merudy', 'Aguria' will be 'Agria', 'Chelia' will be 'Sherria', and so on and so forth. Enjoy!**

Story the First: Repercussions

Merudy was a lot of things. She was clever, attractive, witty, talented, a bit of an attention hog (which wasn't a good thing, as she was a fugitive), and occasionally a little goofy. She was also a wanted criminal. Merudy was not, however, stupid. She realized there was something wrong almost right away once the Grand Magic Games were over, but it took her a long time to figure out what. Ultear, however, figured it out much sooner.

"You're mad at me," she stated, after her surrogate daughter had gone to sleep. Her teammate, friend, and former pawn exhaled through his nose as he poked the fire with a stick. "I know you are."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jellal told her, proving once again that he was one of the worst liars on the face of the planet. Ultear rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Look, Merudy's asleep, so if this is about us interfering with your match against Jura, go ahead and complain." She said. Jellal didn't respond. Ultear took a deep breath and tried again. "Look, you were going to give yourself away! We did what we had to!"

"No, you didn't," Jellal said finally. "There was no need for you to have Merudy use her Sensory Link. It was embarrassing, both to me and to Fairy Tail, and it was unnecessary."

"How was it unnecessary?" Ultear demanded. "How else were we supposed to stop you from blowing your own cover?"

"I don't know, maybe you could have used telepathy!" Jellal snapped, finally raising his voice. He was angry, but not angry enough to wake up Merudy. "We've used it before, back when we were evil Zeref-worshipping monsters. Who knows, maybe I'm angry because the last time you took control of my actions, I killed someone." Ultear flinched at the reminder of Simon's untimely death.

"It didn't occur to me," she admitted. Jellal let out an uncharacteristic snort.

"Oh, wonderful," he said sarcastically. "I feel so relaxed around a teammate whose first solution involves _taking control of my body_."

"I'm sorry," Ultear said quietly. "I didn't think–"

"No, you didn't think." Jellal agreed. "I thought we were friends, Ultear." If the mention of Simon hadn't stung, then that comment certainly did.

"Sorry," she repeated, unsure of what else to say. Jellal didn't respond. "Ok, how can I make it up to you?" He let out an annoyed huff. "Jellal, I'm not a mind reader. I didn't realize you'd be so affected by–"

"'So affected by'?" Jellal cut her off again. "You're making this sound like it's my fault now." Ultear glowered at him.

"I am not!" she protested.

"Yes, you are!" Jellal snapped. "I spent eight years of my life under your thumb, doing nothing but fucking things up for Erza, and just when I finally managed to forgive you, you go and make me fuck things up for her again."

"Since when do you swear?" the raven-haired woman asked.

"Since when does it matter?" he replied coolly. Ultear sighed.

"What do I have to do?" she asked. Jellal blinked.

"Sorry?" he asked.

"What do I have to do to get you to forgive me?" she clarified. Jellal rolled his eyes and lay down, facing away from his teammate.

"Turn back time or something," he responded dully. Ultear decided to leave her teammate be, hoping that she'd have more luck once the Games had ended.

Six days later, Jellal Fernandes truly came to regret his words.


	2. Assurance

**AN: This is the second installment of the currently untitled series of Crime Sorcière-centered oneshots. I literally started this story immediately after finishing the last one, so I don't have a lot to say here. Please remember to send feedback on which story idea you think I should go with (said ideas are listed in the AN of the previous chapter), and also feel free to shoot up some prompts for this collection (nothing to complicated; none of these are going to be very long, so just vague ideas or character interactions please). Enjoy! Oh, and I know Doranbolt's name is Mest. Jellal and Merudy, however, don't.**

Story the Second: Assurance

As a group of wanted criminals, Crime Sorcière did not, by definition, get along with the law, which was ironic, as their guild was intended to punish evildoers as well as themselves. Even before their identities had been discovered, Ultear, Merudy, and Jellal had kept a very low profile – or, rather, as low as was possible when you spent most of your time catching criminals that even the government was apprehensive about apprehending (Merudy was the one who had decided to phrase it like that; Jellal liked to think that they 'helped the helpless').

After Ultear's disappearance, Jellal and Merudy had intended to go on doing what they'd been doing, albeit with trace amounts of misery over the loss of one third of the group, when Doranbolt – or Mest or whatever his name was – showed up before them, bringing with him an irritating reminder that some people could just teleport pretty much anywhere.

"Doranbolt-san," Jellal greeted. Doranbolt stared at him dully.

"Are you here to arrest us?" Merudy asked suspiciously. The councilman let out a ragged laugh.

"On whose orders?" he rasped, fists clenched with fury and grief. "Tartarus just blew the Magic Council to hell. I'm the only one left." Jellal's eyes widened.

"Lahar-san…" he realized. Doranbolt shook his head.

"Dead." he said simply. Jellal looked down.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he said softly. "He was a good man. Brave. I had – I have – a lot of respect for him." Doranbolt shrugged.

"I let the Oración Seis go," he said. Jellal and Merudy stared at him.

"What." Merudy said flatly.

"It was a trade," Doranbolt explained. "I gave Cobra and his friends freedom in exchange for information on Tartarus."

"I see," Merudy murmured. "That must have been a tough choice."

"They'll pay for what they did," Doranbolt hissed. "I'll make sure of it. But right now, I need your help."

"Come again?" Merudy asked, looking incredulous.

"I need your help," Doranbolt repeated. "Specifically you, Jellal." Jellal nodded, looking Doranbolt dead in the eye.

"I'll go after them," he said. "They have not yet achieved freedom, nor will they until they have been released from the darkness."

"I figured you'd say that," Doranbolt noted. "After all, it's pretty stupid to ask a criminal to apprehend criminals."

"Sounds like a bad comic book," Merudy agreed.

"If I can, I will recruit them into Crime Sorcière," Jellal stated. "They will have a chance to make amends."

"And if they refuse?" Doranbolt asked. Merudy glanced back and forth between her friend and the now ex-Councilman. Jellal took a deep breath.

"Then I will do what must be done," he promised. Doranbolt nodded.

"Good," he said grimly. "Though I don't know how you plan to pull that off."

"I'll defeat them," Jellal said bluntly. Merudy and Doranbolt stared at him.

"These guys were tough enough to give Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, and Lamia Scale a hard time," Doranbolt reminded him. "You were there too, I believe."

"I was," Jellal said. "But I know something now that I didn't then." Merudy and Doranbolt exchanged confused looks.

"And that is…?" Merudy prompted. Jellal's lips twitched into something that would have been a smirk had it been on someone else's face (ever since regaining his memory, Jellal had completely lost the ability to effectively produce an evil smirk, not for lack of trying on Ultear's part).

"Hoteye, Angel, Midnight, Racer, and Cobra," he said. "They were all in the Tower of Heaven. Once I remembered that, I remembered something else." He turned to look at the sunrise, before turning back to face Merudy and Doranbolt. "I know their names."


	3. Sisterhood

**AN: I just started writing it, and Witch's Sin has already become one of my three favorite stories to write. You can probably guess the other two. I do take requests, in case you were wondering, but don't expect too much from me. I've got five other ongoing stories to manage, as well as the finale to my trilogy of FMA oneshots. Also, I mentioned some story ideas I had bouncing around in my head in chapter one, so I'd love some feedback on that, if you guys don't mind. Anyhow, I was originally going to have this story involve Erik and Macbeth, because I'd love to have a scene with them just as much as the guest that suggested it, but… this scene kind of made me write it. Say hello to our friends from Saber Tooth, and enjoy the story!**

Story the Third: Sisterhood

Minerva Orland had, not too long ago, been a fairly horrible person. Thanks to some words of encouragement (and two or three asskickings) from Erza, a reunion with Sting and Rogue, and a warm 'welcome home' from her guild, Minerva had become much nicer. She and Yukino had developed something that was quickly heading towards a friendship, people did what she said out of respect rather than fear (mostly, anyway), and Saber Tooth was just generally a much more enjoyable place nowadays.

There was, however, one problem. As she found out from a drunken Sting, Rogue had apparently groped Yukino. Granted, it had been accidental, but it was still something Minerva felt that she could not allow to happen again. The trouble was that Minerva did not feel that she had the right to protect her comrade's innocence, especially since she had just stood by and watched as the ex-guild master humiliated the poor girl.

Sorano Agria, on the other hand, was perfectly willing to help.

"HE DID WHAT?" the sort-of-redeemed criminal bellowed, causing her Dragon Slayer teammate to cover his ears in agony.

"Don't kill him!" Minerva yelped, wondering if she'd made a mistake. "I just need you to make sure it doesn't happen again!" Sorano's eye twitched. It didn't look healthy, and it certainly didn't look sane.

"Oh, it won't." she growled. She grabbed Minerva's arm and tugged her over to Macbeth, who was asleep on the table of Crime Sorcière's current temporary base. "Wake up," she snapped, kicking the man formerly known as Midnight in the stomach. "We're going to terrorize people." Macbeth yawned.

"Did you say 'terrorize'?" he asked hopefully. Sorano grinned manically.

"Someone thought he could molest my Yuki-chan and get away with it," she stated. "We're going to make sure he doesn't." For lack of anything better to do, Macbeth agreed.

"Don't kill anyone," Merudy called from where she and Erik were discussing the pros and cons of annoying Jellal (or, at least, they had been before Sorano's shrieking had temporarily deafened the Dragon Slayer).

"We won't," Sorano promised.

"Probably," Macbeth said under his breath. He probably didn't care whether anyone died or not, so long as at least one or two people got traumatized. Minerva led the two fugitives back to Saber Tooth's guildhall, Sorano explaining her plan along the way.

"This sounds like a really bad idea," Minerva said. Macbeth shrugged.

"I like it," he said, looking rather happy. Sorano grinned.

"Commence the plan, minions!" she ordered. Minerva and Macbeth exchanged looks, silently agreeing that the Angel Mage was crazy.

"Yeah, whatever," Minerva decided.

Rogue Cheney walked to the kitchen. He was not sure why Minerva had called him there, as he and Sting had both been banned from any sort of food-related activity after an attempt at a 'welcome home' dinner had gone horribly wrong.

"Rogue, you're here!" Minerva exclaimed happily. Rogue nodded, wondering if he would ever get used to this new Minerva. Granted, he was happy that she was back and had come to terms with herself, but it was still startling every time he saw a genuine smile on her face.

"I left Frosch with Sting," he told her, not really having anything else to say.

"That's fine," Minerva said dismissively. "Anyway, I called you down here to introduce you to someone." Rogue blinked.

"Introduce me to someone," he repeated. "In the kitchen?" Minerva nodded, and a young, slightly girly man with black and white hair stepped out from behind her. It wasn't too surprising that he'd managed to hide behind her, as, though Minerva was in excellent shape, the man wasn't very tall.

"My name is Macbeth," the guy said. Rogue held out his hand.

"I'm Rogue," he replied, mentally hoping that this guy wasn't the Lady's boyfriend. Sting would go berserk. The man smiled. It was rather creepy.

"I know," he said. And then, his eyes turned red, and the world warped.

"What's going on?" Rogue asked, turning to Minerva, who… was no longer there. "Uh, Milady?" Dark shapes began to float around Rogue, who stepped back nervously. Something grabbed him from behind, and Rogue yelled in shock. He spun around, prepared to fight, only to see– "Yukino?" he asked, wondering when her hair had gotten so long. "What exactly is–?"

"SILENCE." The girl, who Rogue was beginning to suspect wasn't actually Yukino, hissed. "YOU TOUCHED MY BABY SISTER." Rogue went white.

"Y-you're Sorano-san?" he asked, terrified. "Wait, that was an accident! And how'd you even know?" Sorano grabbed his shoulders and slammed him against the wall. Her eyes glowed red, though Rogue was fairly certain that this was all just an illusion of some sort.

"YOU. WILL. NEVER. TOUCH. MY. YUKI. CHAN. EVER. AGAIN." Sorano growled at him. "IF YOU DO, NOTHING WILL STOP ME FROM RAINING DOWN FIRE AND BRIMSTONE UPON YOUR DOOMED SOUL. AND **NO ONE** WILL FIND YOUR CORPSE." And then the room returned to normal, with Minerva and Macbeth staring strangely at him. Sorano was nowhere in sight.

"Are you alright?" Minerva asked, innocently. "You look rather ill."

"I-it's nothing," Rogue told her. "I have to go now." As the Shadow Dragon Slayer left the room, Minerva and Macbeth bumped fists.

"Rogue-sama!" Rogue jumped about a foot in the air as he heard Yukino's call.

"Rogue!" Sting and Yukino raced towards him, Yukino grinning widely and Sting looking just as white as Rogue.

"My sister's here!" Yukino squealed. "She's alive! Come meet her!"

"I–" Rogue began, but Yukino had already seized his wrist and was dragging him along behind her.

Sorano was sitting at one of the tables in the guildhall, chatting with Macbeth and Minerva. She looked up when Yukino burst into the room, smiling sweetly at Sting and Rogue.

" _Hello, boys,_ " she said cheerfully. Sting and Rogue both screamed and ran.

"Sting too?" Minerva asked, confused. Sorano shrugged.

"Better safe than sorry," she declared.

"Sora-nee?" Yukino asked. "What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, my darling, innocent, beautiful little sister," Sorano said, embracing the younger girl. "Nee-san was just setting some ground rules." Yukino blinked. Minerva and Macbeth stifled their laughter.

"O… kay?"

 **AN: So… Sorano is a bit overprotective, Minerva is an epic friend (kinda), and Macbeth has problems. If you haven't guessed, I'm a pretty big Rogue/Yukino fan (Sting/Yukino is my NOTP), but I think Sorano would probably want to cover all her bases. Better safe than sorry. Oh, and in case you're wondering, Jellal showed up the next day to apologize. Sorano and Macbeth came as well, but they were too busy laughing their asses off to actually apologize. Sting got over it pretty quickly, but Rogue was hiding from Yukino for a few more weeks before he felt it was safe to be out in the open again. Also, Minerva cooked an apology stew that tasted really good, but Rogue thought he saw the words "you've been warned" in his beef, so he spent a while hiding from her as well.**


	4. Formation

**AN: All right, so, someone was angry about my portrayal of Jellal in the first chapter, but I think they missed the point. Jellal wasn't angry because Ultear stopped him from fighting – he understood why she did that, and he was grateful that she kept him from doing something stupid. He got upset because, rather than using telepathy, she instead used Merudy's Sensory Link to humiliate him. Even if she doesn't know telepathy, there were still other things she could have done, such as using Merudy's magic to knock him out and then claim he used his own magic too much. The problem wasn't that she stopped him; it was that she did it in a way that was very reminiscent of what she did to him as a child. I'm not sure where you got the idea that he was trying to hurt her – he was just upset. People say a lot of things they don't mean when upset, as any teenager can attest. To be honest, I thought Jellal was being an idiot for using his Heavenly Body Magic, and I was glad that Ultear stopped him, but I think she did it in a fairly nasty way. It was played for laughs in the series, but after everything Jellal's been through, having someone controlling your actions – or even your senses – is probably very distressing. I apologize if the meaning of his anger wasn't clear to you, but I do intend to have a lot more friendship moments between Jellal and Ultear, as they are two of my favorite characters in the series. Also, to the other guest, I do intend to fulfill your request, but that chapter just kind of needed to be written. I'll probably write a scene with Macbeth and Erik next chapter.**

Story the Fourth: Formation

Merudy glanced between her foster mother and the man they had just broken out of prison. The two had been engaged in the world's most awkward staring contest for quite some time, neither really knowing what to say.

"Hi!" she piped up cheerfully. "I'm Merudy, and I just helped Ul break you out of prison!" Jellal looked at her.

"I didn't ask you to," he pointed out. "I went to prison willingly, so I think this qualifies as kidnapping."

"You're not a kid, though," Ultear said helpfully.

"I'm not," Jellal agreed. "I don't think I ever was, actually."

"Oh good, your memories are back," Ultear realized. "That'll make this a lot less awkward." Jellal looked at her suspiciously.

"I no longer have interested in reviving Zeref," he stated.

"That's okay, we don't either," Merudy told him. "Actually, we broke you out because Ul felt bad about the whole Tower thing. Also, Zeref isn't dead."

"I… beg your pardon?" Jellal stared at her. "If he wasn't dead, why build the Tower in the first place? How did he possess me?"

"He didn't," Ultear explained. "You weren't possessed at all, really. I just brainwashed you back when you were being tortured for saving Erza. So I'm basically responsible for everything you did."

"That doesn't really explain much," Jellal said. "Why are you even telling me all this?" Ultear looked away.

"The world is such a strange place," she murmured to herself. Shaking her head, she met his eyes again. "Because I'm sorry. I understand if you hate me and want to kill me, but I couldn't just let you rot in prison for my crimes."

"Ul!" Merudy yelped. "You never said you'd let him kill you!"

"I don't want to kill anyone," Jellal said dully. "Just send me back to prison. I deserve it. Even if you were behind my actions, I was still weak enough to do the things I did. I hurt Erza so much…"

"I don't get it," Merudy said. She squatted down to look the tired prison escapee/kidnapping victim in the eyes. "If Ul's responsible for what happened to you, what are you doing blaming yourself?"

"I killed Simon," Jellal stared off into the distance as he spoke. "I hurt Erza and the others. Even if I was forced to do it, it doesn't change the fact that it was me." Merudy blinked.

"Your logic does not resemble our Earth Land logic," she told him.

"Regardless of who's at fault, sitting in prison isn't helping anyone." Ultear said. "With Fairy Tail gone–"

"I'm sorry, _what_?" Jellal leapt to his feet, and then nearly fell over (he wasn't really used to using his legs yet). "What do you mean 'with Fairy Tail gone'? Where'd they go?" Merudy and Ultear shifted uncomfortably.

"They were on Tenrou Island for the S-Class Exam," Merudy said, as gently as she could. "The dragon Acnologia came and destroyed the island. The guild itself is still around, but Erza and Natsu and Juvia and Gray and the others… they're all gone." Jellal sat back down, his face blank.

"Gone…" he rasped.

"Grimoire Heart was there to find Zeref," Ultear explained. "Merudy and I barely got away. We left the guild. That was about a year ago. I thought someone would have told you." Jellal gave an uncharacteristic snort.

"Who?" He asked bitterly. "The Council? Yeah, I know how much they love me." Ultear sighed.

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed. "Still…" she trailed off as she watched Jellal bury his face in his hands.

"Erza…" Merudy looked nervously at Ultear. The thirteen year old was aware that her mother had done some… less than pleasant things, but this… from what she'd heard about Jellal before he was brainwashed, he'd been confident, cheerful, brave, and always willing to be a support pillar for those around him. This man in front of her, however, looked like he was three seconds away from killing himself.

"I think Erza was really strong!" Merudy said suddenly. Ultear gave her a warning look, but Merudy continued. "I didn't really fight her, but she went up against Azuma, and he was unbelievable. Plus, Gray beat Ul, and Erza's even stronger than him! If Erza were here now, what do you think she'd say?"

"I don't think–" Ultear began, but Jellal cut her off.

"She'd probably ask what you were thinking when you kidnapped me," he said flatly. Ultear frowned.

"We rescued you."

"Kidnapped."

"Rescued."

"Kidnapped."

"Rescued!"

"Kidnapped!"

"Puppies!" Merudy interjected brightly. The older two looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Excuse you?" Jellal said.

"Puppies." Merudy said decisively. "That's what we did to you."

"'Puppies' is a noun, not a verb." Jellal pointed out. Merudy shrugged.

"Well, you guys couldn't reach a decision, so I reached one for you," she said.

"Yes, but that isn't how compromising works," Ultear told her. "You have to reach a common ground." Merudy looked a little confused.

"But everyone likes puppies!" she protested. "Except Zancrow, but who cares what he thinks." In fairness, the statement did cause Jellal and Ultear reached common ground on one thing – arguing with Merudy was pointless. Jellal sighed.

"So, I doubt you broke me out of prison solely to tell me that Erza was gone," he said, flinching a little at the word 'gone'. "What do you want?"

"To stop Zeref," Ultear said. "We want to eradicate the darkness, so that no one ever turns out like we did."

"You're trying to atone," Jellal realized. Ultear nodded.

"We want to eradicate the Dark Guilds," Merudy explained. "We thought you'd be interested in helping." Jellal was silent.

"We understand if you don't, but you'll probably be killed if you just go back to prison," Ultear admitted. "So… well, it's up to you, I guess."

"I've already picked out a name for us!" Merudy chirped happily.

"There's three of us," Jellal pointed out. "What do we need a name for?"

"Oh, so you're in?" she asked. He shrugged, and she beamed. "Well, we need something for people to call us. I mean, people who go around destroying Dark Guilds are gonna draw attention pretty quickly, and the media probably isn't the best at naming things. You know, 'Titania Erza' sounds fine, but what if she'd been a guy? Would they call her 'Oberon Erza'? That's just lame."

"I don't think it really matters," Ultear muttered. Merudy ignored her, more out of excitement than disrespect.

"We'll be 'Crime Sorcière'!" she declared. "It means 'Witch's Sin'!"

"Actually, it means 'Crime Witch'," Jellal told her bluntly. "I'm pretty sure "Witch's Sin" would be "Le Péché de la Sorcière". Not that my French is particularly good." Merudy looked saddened for a moment, but then she brightened up again.

"Well, it sounds cool, and it's got the two word theme, like other guilds!" she said. "So it works!"

"But we're three people," Ultear pointed out. "That's not a guild. Besides, we're all criminals, so we can't be a Legal Guild, and it's just silly for a Dark Guild to go around taking down other Dark Guilds."

"Actually, that could make us an Independent Guild," Jellal said. "The real problem is that not all guilds have a two-word theme, like Death's Head Caucus, or Sabertooth."

"How is that the biggest problem?" Ultear wondered. She was, again, ignored.

"Actually, Saber Tooth split its name a few months ago, so they've got a two word name too, and Death's Head Caucus is a Dark Guild, so it doesn't matter what they call themselves." Merudy argued.

"Gramlush!"

"No one cares about them!"

"Carbuncle!"

"They're from Veronica!"

"Love & Lucky!"

"The 'and' is a symbol, not a word!"

"Fisher Man's Prize!"

"They're treasure hunters, not mages!"

"Tartarus!"

"Dark Guild!"

"Eisenwald!"

"Disbanded!"

"Harpuia!"

"They just followed Racer around," Ultear remembered, not at all surprised when her teammates didn't seem to notice.

"Dark Bridge Familia!"

"They've been gone for years!"

"Reborn Oración Seis!"

"That was just the original Oración Seis with a couple changes!"

"Okay, that's enough!" Ultear broke in, hitting them both on the head with her orb. "Look, it really doesn't matter, so long as we get the job done." After a couple grumbles of unhappiness, Jellal and Merudy agreed. Ultear sighed to herself, wondering if Jellal was acting this way because she hadn't given him a whole lot of freedom during puberty. That brought up some unpleasant thoughts, which she quickly pushed out of her head, hoping that Merudy wouldn't be too bad.

As Ultear and Jellal were soon to discover, Merudy was a whole lot worse.

 **AN: So, I intended to have this out yesterday, but, obviously, that didn't happen. And yes, puberty will definitely come back to bite Ultear in the behind. I'm probably the only person ever who thinks about what puberty would be like when you're possessed, but I doubt that Ultear knew too much about guy puberty, so she probably didn't think that through. In which case… well, the mood swings come for everyone, even if it's delayed. That idea actually came from Kinana, who I recently learned was a year older than Erza (and Jellal and Mira and Jenny and Lyon and Toby and Yuka), making her the same age as Freed, Evergreen, Nab, Hibiki, and Ren, which brings up the question: if she was twenty when Makarov turned her back into a human, why did she look like she was eight? Even now, at twenty-seven, she looks fairly young, but she should have already finished puberty before the time skip, so why was there such a big difference after it? My explanation? Magical crap happening to you as a kid fucks up your life. So basically, since Kinana spent her childhood as a snake, she had to grow up really fast. Literally. Since Jellal spent eight to nine years as Ultear's puppet, he never really had the chance to deal with the crap teenage boys go through, as Ultear had no reason to think about it too much. So now, Ultear has to take care of a thirteen year old who has probably just smacked into puberty, as well as a twenty year old whose belated puberty is catching up with him. That's right, folks: the true villain of this story is puberty. Oh, and Passerby Guest? Macbeth and Erik will get a scene to themselves soon enough. Probably.**


	5. Silence

**AN: I haven't really decided how I'm gonna do this, but this will probably be a scene between Erik and Macbeth. Probably. I'll do my best. It won't be half as long as the last chapter, though, and it might be my last update for a bit, as school starts next Thursday at eight in the morning. Yes, really.**

Story the Fifth: Silence

The good thing about spending time with Macbeth, Erik thought, was that he neither had to talk or listen. Macbeth spent most of his time asleep, and it took a whole damn lot to wake him up. Even when he was awake, he rarely spoke. Erik quite liked that. Macbeth was not the type of person who wanted to have a conversation, and that was nice.

So, when Jellal had picked out their next target (their fifth mission as a team, and, hopefully, the third not to end in disaster) and decided to break the group into pairs, Erik picked Macbeth. Not that there was really any other option, of course, as Merudy and Sorano – being the only girls – picked each other by default, and Richard and Sawyer made a surprisingly good team. Jellal himself was not partnered with anyone, for two reasons. One, there were an odd number of people, and two, he was stronger than the other six combined.

The four teams (if Jellal himself counted as a 'team') had split up to surround the Dark Guild they planned to destroy, with Merudy and Sorano in the most conspicuous location, as they looked the most normal (at least, with their cloaks on), Richard and Sawyer in the least conspicuous, as they looked the least normal (even with their cloaks on), and Erik and Macbeth in the most awkward – the sewer.

Well, in all honesty, it wasn't _really_ a sewer. They were underneath the Dark Guild (the name of which Erik could not remember, though he would later swear up and down that it was "Troll Fetish" when telling the story to Kinana), in a place that was probably supposed to be a basement. It didn't look like a basement, though, unless 'basement' was equivalent to 'loads of dead rats'.

"Dark Guilds today don't have any class," Macbeth grumbled, nudging a dead rat with his toe. Erik glanced at his partner, surprised. Macbeth usually only spoke when he was spoken to (or when he was tormenting someone). "The Oración Seis at least had a house."

 _Really_? They heard Jellal telepathically, as he wasn't actually there at the moment. _I seem to remember a cave_.

"Right, and you're know for your memory," Erik snapped. "Besides, that was only while we were lookin' for Nirvana."

 _If you say so_ , his boss replied, sounding skeptical. _Anyway, be on your guard. I don't want to make a move until we know for sure that there aren't any innocents in there_. Erik snorted.

"Oh, like Fairy Tail never caused any collateral damage," Erik began. Before he could continue, Macbeth placed a hand over his mouth.

"There's someone coming," he hissed.

 _How did you notice before Erik_? Jellal wondered.

"You were distracting him," Macbeth replied. "Now shut up unless you have something important to say." The two felt the mental link recede, and Erik groaned.

"He's gonna lecture us later," he mumbled through Macbeth's hand.

"He'll lecture you," Macbeth corrected. "After all this, I'm going to sleep."

When the door to the makeshift basement opened, Macbeth trapped the person in an illusion and Erik knocked him out. They forgot, however, to catch him when he fell, and someone heard the noise. All hell broke loose, but no civilians were harmed, and, somehow, no one died. Jellal did indeed only lecture Erik, but he got back at Macbeth too, using Merudy's Sensory Link to give him a sugar high. For a while, they ended up using the Dark Guild's base as their own, until Sorano found out about the dead rats and made them leave.

 **AN: I don't know is this is what you wanted, my friend, but it's what I got. Sorry it's not longer, though. It really should say something if Richard and Sawyer both outrank Macbeth in physical weirdness. Maybe he should have teamed up with the girls and Erik with Jellal… Nah, that wouldn't work. Macbeth isn't gossip-y enough, and Erik and Jellal would be too busy taunting each other about Kinana and Erza. Oh, and Sorano isn't scared of rats or dead things or anything like that. She just doesn't like it when she glares at something and it doesn't run away. See you next time!**


	6. Visitors

**AN: Yeah, it took me longer to get started on this than I thought it would, but whatever. I don't have some sort of explanation or anything; I just started writing now and not later/earlier. So… anyway, about the story ideas I mentioned in the first chapter, I've so far got one vote for the successful rebellion idea. If you want to let me know what you think, go ahead, but be warned that I won't be writing any new stories (except maybe one-shots) until I've finished one of my DRRR stories. Anyhow, enjoy~**

Story the Sixth: Visitors

In all honesty, after the stunt Sorano and Macbeth had pulled with Saber Tooth, it wasn't surprising that Sting and Rogue (or, as Erik liked to think of them, "Salamander 2.0" and "Sorano's future brother-in-law") eventually showed up to visit, along with Yukino, who was visiting her sister, and Minerva, who apparently felt that she needed to apologize to Jellal (which turned into something that resembled an apology contest). Sting and Rogue, despite being fairly interested in the group of fugitives they were now hanging out with, were as close to the entrance of the hideout as possible, either because they wanted to be able to make a quick escape if necessary, or because Sorano and Macbeth were at the other side of the hideout (it was quite possible that both were true).

What was surprising, however, was the day that the Twin Dragons came to visit with a former member of Fairy Tail tagging along (and three cats instead of two). Yukino and Minerva were also there, but they had decided to, respectively, talk to Sorano and giggle with Merudy (somehow, the Lady of Saber Tooth's friendship with Crime Sorciére's resident empath came as no surprise to anyone, possibly because of their shared love of penguins). Erik had – quite literally – heard the group coming from a mile away, and was waiting for them outside, which was probably for the best, as Richard had developed a tendency to hug anyone who entered their hideout, even if he didn't know who they were.

"So, what're you runts doing here?" Erik asked, grinning manically. He liked grinning maniacally – it scared people, and that was funny.

"We want to fight you." Sting told him bluntly. Even with his Sound Magic telling him otherwise, Erik could not bring himself to believe that the boy was being serious. He doubled over laughing.

"You want to fight me?" He repeated, gasping for breath. " _You_ want to fight _me_? _Seriously_?" Managing to choke down his laughter, Erik stood up and looked directly at them. "Kid, the two of you got your collective rear ends handed to you by Dragneel. You can do a _fucking Unison Raid_ and you still lost. To. _Natsu_. Did you develop a masochistic streak, or do you just think that getting the shit beaten out of you will make you stronger?"

"Natsu beat you too," Rogue pointed out. Erik rolled his eyes.

"Yeah – _eight years ago_." He sneered. "The last time I fought a member of Fairy Tail, it was Titania, and I only lost because I got distracted. I fought a dragon too, you know, and I came a hell of a lot closer to winning than you two."

"I'm here too," Wendy noted, glad that he hadn't made fun of her, but a little sad that he seemed to have completely missed her. Erik glanced down at her.

"I realized that," he said dryly. "Since, you know, I _heard_ you. If you're asking why I ain't makin' fun of you, it's 'cause you're twelve." Wendy frowned.

"I'm almost thirteen," she mumbled. "And that didn't stop you from trying to kill me before."

"It wouldn't stop me from trying to kill you now, either," Erik assured her (she didn't look too assured, but he didn't really care). "But you beat the shit out of a member of Tartarus, by yourself, at age twelve. _That_ is worthy of a little respect."

"I had Carla with me," Wendy told him, blushing. "But thanks." Erik shrugged.

"Look, kids, if you wanna spar then that's fine, but I gotta ask why all three of you came." Sting and Rogue exchanged looks, but Wendy spoke up.

"I wanted to get stronger too," she said. "Fairy Tail… since Fairy Tail disbanded, I've been thinking about joining Lamia Scale, but I want to get stronger first. I thought about it, and I realized that I'm the only Dragon Slayer who's never fought against another Dragon Slayer before."

"That's true," Sting realized. He glanced at Erik. "I think, anyway."

"Let me get this straight: You want to get stronger by fighting another Dragon Slayer, so, rather than fight against the two in your age group, the four in your guild, or one of those God Slayers I've been hearing about, you picked _me_."

"Yup." Wendy said simply. Carla facepawed.

"If it's any comfort, I did tell her it was a bad idea," the white Exceed hissed, glaring untrustingly at their old enemy. "Heaven forbid she listens to me, though."

"And, since Rogue and I wanted to spar with you anyway, we figured it could be two-on-two," Sting finished, grinning.

"Three-on-one," Erik said flatly. Sting's smile fell.

"What?" he asked.

"I said, if you wanna fight me, it's gonna have to be three-on-one." Erik grinned. "Otherwise, I'd just get bored. Actually, maybe we should go get a couple more Dragon Slayers for your side. Even it out a bit." The other three Dragon Slayers stared at him for a moment until they realized they'd just been insulted.

"You know what?" Rogue said, his eye twitching. "I think I'm good with a three-on-one set-up."

"Same," Sting growled, not even trying to hide his irritation.

"That's a good idea!" Wendy chirped, realizing that, despite being a bit of an ass about it, Erik had a point. "If we find Natsu-san and Gajeel-san, they could join our team, and we can ask Laxus-san to join Cobra-san's team! Generation 1 and 3 against Generation 2!" The other three stared at her.

"Child, he wasn't being serious," Carla snapped.

"Carla-san is right!" Lector, who had been staring at the female cat instead of paying attention to what was going on, piped up.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch agreed.

"I have a headache," Jellal told them. Erik jumped, wondering how the hell Jellal managed to sneak up on him (Jellal seemed to be able to block Erik from hearing his thoughts, though he wouldn't reveal how, and it had been driving the maroon-haired man insane). "Why are Wendy and the Saber Tooth guys here?"

"They want to spar with Erik," Macbeth, who may or may not have been awake the entire time, said. His eyes were still closed.

"Is… is he even awake?" Sting wondered. Erik shrugged.

"It's kinda hard to tell," he admitted. "There's not much of a difference one way or the other." Macbeth threw a rock at him.

"I think he's awake." Wendy said helpfully.

"It could just be a subconscious reflex, though," Jellal thought out loud. He saw the others staring at him with puzzled expressions. "Ah, it's kind of hard to explain… you know how some people kick when they're asleep? It's like that, I guess." Macbeth threw a rock at him too. "Okay, he's probably awake."

"I know!" Sawyer popped his head out of the hideout, grinning. "What about all four of you fighting Jellal?" Jellal groaned.

"Please don't drag me into this," he begged.

"That wouldn't be fair," Merudy pointed out. "Jellal could probably take on all of us at once." There was an awkward silence as the former members of the Oración Seis remembered their 'fight' against Jellal.

"Let's do that, then!" Lector said, still not really paying attention. "I'm sure Sting-kun will win!" Sting looked at him.

"I'm pretty sure I'd get my ass handed to me," he retorted flatly. Jellal sighed.

"Look, there's some open space a bit west of here, and you guys can have your sparring match there. Erik, please don't do any permanent damage, _physical or otherwise_." Erik rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he grumbled. Jellal went back inside the hideout, followed by Merudy, who had had too much candy and was now singing a song about a hedgehog at the top of her lungs. The other members of the crime-fighting guild (as well as Yukino and Minerva) glanced at one another.

"I think we should go watch the fight," Macbeth said. The others agreed, and followed the Dragon Slayers off to the open area Jellal had mentioned, leaving the blue-haired man alone with the pink-haired girl and praying that he wouldn't kill them for it later. Listening carefully, Erik realized that Macbeth was still asleep.

 **AN: So, this chapter comes in two parts, because screw it. If anyone's wondering why Wendy decided to talk to Sting and Rogue about getting stronger, just assume it was because she realized that they were technically the same age (which they are – remember, if not for the time skip, Wendy would be nineteen). Oh, and just so you know, Minerva and Jellal once spent so long apologizing that they fell asleep in their seats. Macbeth still teases them about it. Well, I can't say when the next part/chapter will come out, but… hey, do you guys think I should start posting** Acnologia is Not Your Father **on AO3?**


	7. Nicknames and Denial

**AN: It took me a lot longer to start writing this than I'd care to admit, mostly because I spent a while trying to convince myself to write a fight scene. I failed in this. And that's terrible. Every author has weaknesses. Mine are fight scenes. I do not like them. Aside from Harry Potter fight scenes, but those are just standing around and pointing sticks. Well, I'm doing my best. Without further ado (whatever the fuck that means), I present to you the continuation of chapter six: chapter seven! You know, that sounded cooler in my head…**

Story the Seventh: Nicknames and Denial

The fight was over fairly quickly. This was more of a testament to Erik's abilities than anything else but it didn't stop the younger three Dragon Slayers from sulking about the difference in skill.

"That was boring," Sorano complained. "Nobody even died."

"A good fight. Oh yeah!" Richard proclaimed. "Those three held up well against Erik's abilities. Oh yeah! Impressive indeed. Oh–"

"Would you stop saying 'oh yeah'?" Sting snapped at him.

"No." Richard replied. "Oh yeah!" Sting groaned.

"I don't see why you're so upset," said Minerva innocently. "You two lose to me all the time. Sure, there was a third person this time, but why would you expect to win against someone stronger than myself?"

"That's a bit harsh, Minerva-sama," Yukino said, trying to hide a smile. "After all, they weren't able to beat Natsu-sama either, and he's not even as strong as you."

"Weak." Sawyer said flatly. "I'd kick your rears."

"'Rears'?" Sorano repeated incredulously. "Sawyer, you're making us look bad." The long-nosed man grimaced.

"Sorry," he replied. "Captain Planet must be getting to me."

"'Captain Planet'?" Rogue asked. "Is that your nickname for Jellal or something?" Richard sighed.

"The others all came up with their own nicknames for Jellal-san," he explained. "They claim to have done it to annoy him, but I think that being evil stunts your hormonal growth, and puberty is now catching up to them. Oh yeah!"

"That would explain a few things," Yukino said thoughtfully.

"What do you all call him?" Wendy asked curiously.

"I call him 'Jelly'," Sorano said cheerfully. "Erik calls him 'Bossman', Macbeth calls him 'Senpai', and Sawyer calls him 'Captain Planet'."

"Really?" Rogue said thoughtfully. "What about Merudy?" Erik snickered.

"She calls him 'Mom'." He said, grinning. Wendy choked on her giggles.

"Why don't you guys come up with names?" Macbeth suggested, probably still asleep. Sorano practically cackled.

"Oh god yes," she laughed.

"I'm going to call him 'Onii-chan'," Wendy decided.

"I'll call him 'Jell-o'," Yukino said loyally, glancing at her sister, who squealed and hugged her.

"I'm going to stick with Jellal," Rogue and Minerva said together.

"I'll call him…" Sting puffed up his chest as if he were about to make an important announcement. He held that position for a moment, and then deflated. "I can't think of anything," he mumbled in defeat. Sawyer smirked, and whispered something in the blond Dragon Slayer's ear. Sting turned red. "I can't say that!"

"Can't say what?" Merudy asked skipping up to them. It looked like her sugar high had mostly gone.

"They're coming up with nicknames for Jellal," Minerva told her.

"Milady and I have chosen to remain mature young adults," Rogue added.

"Bo~ring!" Merudy sang. "I say you call him 'Sock Puppet'."

"Where did that come from?" Wendy asked, genuinely curious.

"Her mouth," Erik told her. "That's not sarcastic, by the way – she literally didn't think about it at all." Sting twitched.

"Forget all that crap!" he yelled, turning to point at Erik. "I want a rematch!"

"Forget it, Natsu," Erik said flatly.

"I'm Sting!"

"Keep telling yourself that," Erik grinned. Wendy cleared her throat.

"Cobra-san, could I ask a favor?" she smiled up at him sweetly. Erik was reminded of Sorano whenever she was about to blackmail someone.

"What?" he asked cautiously.

"Can you train me?" she asked. "I'd like to become stronger before Fairy Tail gets back together."

"Do you really think they will?" Yukino asked hopefully.

"Of course they will, silly," Sorano cooed, embracing her sister. "Otherwise, you'd be sad. I'll duck tape them back together, if I have to." Yukino giggled.

"And why should I help you?" Erik asked, folding his arms and ignoring the Agria sisters.

"I'll tell Kinana-san if you don't," Wendy told him bluntly. There were more than a few shocked gasps.

"W-Wendy!" Merudy exclaimed. "When exactly did you turn out like that?"

"Clearly Fairy Tail has corrupted the poor girl," Rogue said, shaking his head.

"Maybe she was the dark and devious type all along," Minerva mused.

"Yeah, I thought it'd come to that," Erik grumbled. "Fine, brat, I'll train you. I hope you don't think I'll go easy on you."

"I'm sorry, what's going on?" Jellal asked, walking towards them.

"Oh, you're up?" Sawyer asked, looking surprised. "I thought you'd be taking the chance to get a nap." Jellal shrugged.

"I spent the last six years with Merudy," he replied. "I'm used to minimal amounts of sleep." Merudy pouted.

"Jellal!" Sting yelled, pointing at him. "Fight me!" Jellal blinked.

"Did Natsu dye his hair?" he wondered. Sting scowled.

"I'm Sting!" he protested.

"Oh, sorry," Jellal replied. "It's just nostalgia."

"Whatever. Fight me!" Sting rushed towards him.

"Absolutely not," he said, sidestepping Sting's attack and causing the Dragon Slayer to fall over. Sorano rolled her eyes.

"The Master of Saber Tooth, everyone," she murmured sarcastically.

"I believe that fighting Jellal – even with all three of you – would be quite foolish," Richard said, helping Sting up. "He did recruit the other four by defeating them, you know. Oh yeah!" Minerva, Yukino, Sting, Rogue, and Wendy stared at Jellal, who shifted uncomfortably. Carla and Frosch had apparently taken a page from Macbeth's book and gone to sleep. Lector was staring at Carla as if she were the only visible thing in the world, causing Merudy to absently wonder what the coat-wearing cat would look like painted blue.

"Well, yes," Jellal acknowledged. "But I–"

"We were trying to kill you," Sorano cut him off. "And no matter how much you protest, it doesn't change the fact that you crushed the four of us with minimal effort." Jellal opened his mouth to argue, but Erik beat him to the punch.

"Boss, your only injury was _self-inflicted_ ," he grumbled. "And it was healed within a day. Go drown in a pit of self-loathing somewhere else."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Minerva wondered, watching Jellal give up and sit down. "I mean, he surely knows how powerful he is, right?" Macbeth snickered.

"He still doesn't believe that a Thought Projection being capable of magic is unheard of," he said. Rogue rolled his eyes.

"It _is_ unheard of," the Dragon Slayer said. "Thought Projections are used to send messages, or, occasionally, have people think you're somewhere you aren't. A Thought Projection isn't used in combat because it takes up half the caster's magic."

"Jellal's infiltrated the Magic Council by pretending to be his older twin brother, became a Wizard Saint, and was in Sorcerer Weekly's 'Mages You'd Want to Be Your Boyfriend' list." Merudy told them. There was an awkward silence.

"That… that's a joke, right?" Sting asked weakly. Richard chortled (he was the only person that any of them had met who chortled).

"Not at all. Oh yeah! Jellal's power is truly incredible! Oh yeah!"

"On second thought, I'll pass on fighting you," Sting decided. "N-not because I'm scared or anything! I just, y'know, feel bad for you. Hey, we've been gone from the guild for a while. Let's head back."

"Subtle," Rogue told him, picking up the still sleeping Frosch.

"Can it," Sting growled at his friend. Rogue just snickered. Yukino gave her sister one last hug, Sting and Rogue gave said sister one last cautious glance, and Minerva absently picked up Lector, who was still staring at Carla.

"I'm going to stay to train with Cobra-san for a while," Wendy said, after the Saber Tooth members had vanished from sight. "Is that alright?" Jellal nodded.

"Sure, but don't push yourself too much," he replied. She nodded.

"Thanks, onii-chan!" she chirped. Jellal gave an absentminded nod.

Then her words registered, and he fell off his rock.

 **AN: It just occurred to me that, of the three main characters outside of Crime Sorcière, only one has shown up so far. We've had Minerva, Sting, Rogue, Yukino, Wendy, Carla, Lector, and Frosch guest starring, but Kinana and Erza have yet to show up outside of being mentioned. By the way, if she appears again, should Wendy keep calling Jellal "onii-chan", or should she just call him Jellal? Well, whatever. I've already teased Kinabra and Jerza (mostly in the author's notes, but…), and I've played with RoYu and Stinerva, so I'll need to tease something else… Well, next time, our wacky group of wackos drops Wendy off at Lamia Scale (probably; even I don't know what I'm gonna write), so maybe I'll throw some Chendy in… what do you guys think? Just don't ask me to write StingYu or RoWen or Dorendy or GrayLu (I don't actually dislike GrayLu, but it's hard to find it done well, and they've got a great friendship in canon) or NaZa or GrayZa or– well, you get the point. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Sexuality, Girl Talk, and You!

**AN: Just so you know, I shipped Mest/Sorano before the manga did. Actually, the chapter of Acnologia is Not Your Father where the ship tease between them starts (chapter two, I believe) came out a good half a year before the two interacted in the manga. I just wanted to clarify that I am the one who first sailed that ship. I am THE pioneer of Sorest – don't you forget it. Just wanted to make that clear. Anyhow, I know I said that this chapter would have Wendy going to join Lamia Scale, but at least two people said that they liked the idea of Wendy training with Erik and/or calling Jellal "Onii-chan", so we'll have to wait a bit before the Chendy happens (which makes me sad, 'cause that's one of my top five favorite pairings for the series, along with Jerza, Stinerva, Kinabra, and Sorest). Anyway, I decided that Wendy and Carla can spend a little more time with Crime Sorcière before she leaves, but I also need either Kinana or Erza to show up soon, because this is chapter eight and we're missing two main characters. One of them might pop up this chapter, but it's unlikely. Oh, and remember how I said that these weren't chronological? Well, a few of them are. Once I get around to it, I'll post the order of these oneshots on my profile (which is totally not me trying to get you to look at the damn thing, because I don't care if you do or not – I'm just doing this so that I can keep track). Well, enjoy!**

Story the Eighth: Sexuality, Girl Talk, and You!

Wendy Marvell had, initially, been quite nervous about going with the Twin Dragons to spar with Cobra. It was a legit fear, though – most members of Crime Sorcière had been trying to kill her at some point (except Jellal; even though she knew what he'd done, and even though he wasn't Mystogan, she would never be able to consider him an enemy). Still, those fears had disappeared into thin air during her spar with the other Dragon Slayers, and she had decided to remain with Crime Sorcière for a bit before heading off to Lamia Scale. Carla had reluctantly agreed, though she had also made it quite clear that she was going to keep an eye on all of them, just in case.

Oddly enough, though she spent most of her time sparring with Cobra or chatting with Jellal, she had been pulled into an odd friendship circle with Merudy and Angel (though she knew that the Oración Seis were now going by their birth names, she still thought of them by their codenames). Interestingly enough, the two ex-criminals liked to talk about boys. It was a normal topic for normal girls, and Wendy had forgotten that, because there hadn't been much to talk about like that in Fairy Tail, as most of the girls there were either in a relationship already (Bisca), uninterested in relationships (Laki, Cana, and Porlyusica), were only attracted to one person (Juvia, Erza, Kinana and Levy), preferred matchmaking to anything else (Mirajane, Lisanna, and Asuka), or were simply in denial (Evergreen, Carla and Lucy). Wendy herself, being twelve, had never really thought about relationships, but, now that she was almost thirteen, she often found that she couldn't stop herself from drifting off into fantasies. They were a bit pinker than she thought they'd be, but Wendy had just assumed that it was because she was a girl.

So, when the older girls had – literally – dragged her into a conversation about guys, Wendy couldn't stop herself from being mildly interested. Furiously, she tried to think of men the other two might be interested in.

"Um, what about Mest-san?" she asked nervously. The other two looked at her, surprised. Merudy clapped her hands together happily.

"Ooh, good one, Wendy-chan!" she exclaimed. "What do you think, Sorano?"

"Eh," Sorano shrugged. "He's _kinda_ cute, I guess, but he needs a _major_ personality transplant." She grinned mischievously, eyes twinkling. "That's not to say I don't appreciate his determination though."

"That's definitely a good thing in a guy," Merudy agreed. "Come to think of it, Fairy Tail's got a bunch of hot guys." Sorano folded her arms, scowling.

"We've only got Jellal and Erik," she mumbled, pouting. "And Erik's got a thing for his ex-snake girl." Merudy nodded.

"And Jellal's an idiot," she said. "Plus, he's not attracted to anyone besides Erza." Wendy blinked.

"Really?" she asked, slightly curious. "How do you know?" Sorano smirked.

"Watch this," she told the younger girl. "Hey, Jellal!" Merudy snickered as the blue-haired man walked over.

"Uh, is there something I can help you with?" he asked cautiously. Sorano stood up and leaned towards him.

"I have a question about your magic," she purred, crossing her arms under her breasts. Rather than blushing, Jellal nodded.

"Alright, ask away," he said. Sorano's smirk widened.

"Is there a _reason_ it's called 'Heavenly Body Magic'?" she asked in a low voice.

"There is, actually," Jellal responded. "My magic revolves around the planets, stars, and other celestial bodies. In fact, one could say that it's got a similar basis to Celestial Spirit Magic, though I'm sure you knew that already." Sorano turned back to the other girls, grinning.

"See?" she said. "Now, if it'd been our lovely Titania asking that, we would have had a very interesting scene." Jellal choked.

"Sorano, I–" he spluttered. "I'm sorry, _what_?"

"Sorano was showing us how much of an idiot you are," Merudy told him, giggling. "It was very informative." Jellal just sighed.

"Don't spend too much time with them, Wendy," he said. "They'll corrupt you for sure." Wendy nodded.

"Okay, Onii-chan!" she chirped. Jellal sighed again and walked off, wondering if maybe there was a limit to the amount of punishment he deserved.

"Anyway, are there any guys _you_ like, Wendy-chan?" Sorano asked, leaning in. Wendy tilted her head to the side, deep in thought.

"Of course there isn't!" Carla snapped. "The only boy she knows close to her age is that Romeo boy, and–" She broke off, staring at Wendy in horror. "Child, you aren't– you know– _Romeo_?" Wendy blinked.

"What? No, no way!" she exclaimed, waving her hands in front of her frantically. "I mean, I suppose he's cute, but I can't date a guy I used to babysit. I'm, like, five years older than him, anyway!"

"Ooh, you're into younger guys?" Merudy asked, grinning.

"No, she's being honest," Sorano declared. "This isn't denial. So… if it's not younger guys, maybe she likes older guys? What about Salamander?"

"Absolutely not!" Carla cut in, holding up her paws in the shape of an "X".

"Natsu-san is more like a brother to me," Wendy confessed.

"It's not Gray, is it?" Merudy asked, covering her mouth in horror. "Because I want to support you, but I can't if you interfere with Gruvia."

"Gruvia?" Wendy asked. Sorano nodded.

"Gray and Juvia," she explained. "I think it's cute too, but not as cute as Kinabra." Wendy tilted her head.

"That's… Kinana-san and Cobra-san?" she guessed. Sorano beamed at her.

"We'll make a shipper out of you yet!" she declared. "Now, what other couple do you think could work?" Wendy thought about it.

"Happy and Carla!" she decided. The white Exceed choked.

" _Wendy_!" she exclaimed. Wendy blushed.

"S-sorry, Carla," she mumbled. "I just think it's cute…"

"You two are a terrible influence," the blushing cat grumbled.

"The fact that we're on the run should tell you that," Merudy pointed out. "I mean, we're still criminals, even if the Council has pretty much forgiven Jellal."

"It's kinda hard not to forgive someone who has effectively saved everyone multiple times, once just by being alive." Sorano noted. "But we're still criminals."

"Um," Wendy glanced back and forth between them. "What about Lyon-san from Lamia Scale?" Merudy sat up straight, and Sorano snapped out of her daze.

"Ooh, he's pretty cute!" the silver-haired mage exclaimed. "A bit old for you."

"I'm just glad he got over his crush on Juvia," Merudy thought out loud. "I think I can appreciate him a bit more now. Still, there's that girl in his guild that seems to like him."

"Sherria-chan," Wendy said stiffly, wondering why on earth Merudy's absent comment had cut her so deeply. She hoped that the other two didn't notice, but, of course, they did.

"Eh?" Sorano stared at her. "Do you not like her or something?" Wendy shook her head furiously.

"No, I do!" she exclaimed. "Sherria-chan is a really good friend of mine, and I would never be mad at her or anything, I just–" she stopped, and bit her lip, "I just think she can do better than someone eleven years older than her," she mumbled, looking down. Sorano and Merudy glanced at one another.

"Sweetie, that's called jealousy," Merudy told her. "It's normal."

"I'm jealous of Sherria-chan?" Wendy asked, looking shocked. "That–"

"You're jealous of _Lyon_ ," Merudy cut her off. "Look, when Sherria starts squealing about him, you get a funny feeling in your tummy, right?" Wendy's eyes widened, almost comically.

"H-how'd you know?" she asked nervously.

"It happens to everyone," Sorano explained.

"I used to have a _huge_ crush on Jellal," Merudy admitted. "I'd feel like that any time someone mentioned Erza." Wendy reddened.

"But Sherria-chan is a girl!" she protested. Sorano snorted.

"Hon, most of the girls you know are either gay or bi," she said bluntly.

"Really?" Wendy asked curiously. Merudy nodded, beckoning Erik over and explaining the conversation. The Dragon Slayer rolled his eyes.

"From what I can tell, the only heterosexual girls in your ex-guild are the gun lady, the Stone-Eyes chick, that girl with the torture fetish, and Kinana." He said, the look on his face making it very clear that the last of those girls was one hundred percent off limits.

"What about the others?" Wendy asked, eyes wide. She'd never known that gossiping could be so much fun! No wonder the others did it so often.

"Easy enough," Erik smirked. "Salamander's girlfriend is mostly into girls, but she's got a soft spot for Natsu, of course. The Water Woman's got a thing for the ice freak and absolutely no one else, and the shorty likes that rusty bucket of nails, but also has a bit of a thing for the aforementioned Blondie. The drunk is pretty much full-blown lesbo, but she'll tease guys if she's bored enough. Titania likes Jellal, obviously, but she's fantasized about her fair share of girls as well." Erik took a breath before continuing. "The Demon swings both ways pretty evenly, and her little sister is mostly into guys. Mostly. If we're counting you, then I'd say you're a bit young to tell, but probably almost entirely into girls."

"Wow," Wendy murmured, shocked. "That's… wow. _Wow_."

"Hey, you're pretty good at this!" Merudy chirped. She patted the ground next to her. "Tell us more." Erik shrugged and sat down.

"Saber Tooth's pretty easy, since they've only got about two girls that I actually know," he began. "Sorano's little sister is mostly straight, but she's got a thing for Fairy Tail's Blondie. Minerva is actually pretty straight too, but she's definitely interested in Blondie as well, along with Titania. Pretty much the entire Blue Pegasus guild is bi, so let's not go there, and that chick from Lamia Scale is straight. Couldn't say anything about her cousin, though," he added, as Wendy opened her mouth to question him. "Let's see… pretty much all the girls in Mermaid Heel are total lesbos, that chick from Raven Tail is completely gay, and that just leaves our guild. Sorano is bi, but mostly into guys, and Merudy is straight, with a bit of a fem-crush on Water Woman. That about clear things up?" Wendy nodded thoughtfully. Sorano and Merudy glowered at their friend.

"We weren't supposed to be included in that," Sorano hissed. "And I am completely straight, thank you very much. There just happen to be a couple exceptions." Wendy sweatdropped.

"Isn't that the same?" she mumbled. Merudy, it seemed, was angry for a completely different.

"You forgot Macbeth and Jellal!" she protested. "They count!" Erik nodded.

"Yeah, I guess they're more on the girl side," he agreed. "I'd say Macbeth is probably metrosexual – looks and acts like a gay guy, but is completely and totally straight. Jellal's easier – he's Erza-sexual." All three girls nodded.

"Definitely," Carla agreed, having given up on trying to pretend that she wasn't interested in the gossip. "Honestly, when's he going to stop punishing himself and talk to her already?"

"Never," Sorano, Erik, and Merudy said in unison. Carla sighed, Wendy giggled, and the three former Dark Mages began bickering over whether or not Erza was going to have to start threatening Jellal if she ever wanted to get anywhere.

That night, as Wendy fell asleep in Crime Sorcière's current hideout, she thought about her conversation with her temporary companions – about the look on Erik's face when thinking about Kinana, the luminescent blush on Jellal's face when teased about Erza, the slightly sad look in Sorano's eyes when talking about how cute a couple Gray and Juvia were, and even the slightly forced cheer on Merudy's face when she was talking about things that she'd probably only ever spoken about with Ultear – and thought to herself that maybe staying a bit longer wasn't a bad idea after all.

That night, Wendy's dreams were once again filled with bubblegum pink.

 **AN: Okay, so I really need to write more Richard and Sawyer. They have not gotten enough screentime in this story. Anyway, the next chapter is probably the last Wendy chapter for a bit, and definitely the last chapter of this little arc. The next guest stars will be… hm, probably Gray and Erza, actually. Let's have us some Avatar fun! Of course, since Erza didn't know that she was the spy, I'm going to assume that any physical meeting between them happened before Sorano left for Alakitasia, so we won't get into the Alvarez Empire arc just yet. Or maybe the next chapter should be during the timeskip? Goodness knows Ultear could use some more screentime. I mean, sure, she was in the first and fourth chapters, but come on! A founder deserves more than that, especially considering how much of an impact she had on the series. Still, Richard, Sawyer, Kinana, and Erza haven't had any major roles yet, and they're all main characters. I seriously need to kick Wendy out, because she has a habit of hijacking my stories. So, next time we'll have our favorite anti-heroes escort Wendy to her new guild, have some Chendy fluff, and then we'll see her again when Mest teleports them to Sorano's ship. See you next time!**


	9. Richard and Sawyer's Excellent Adventure

**AN: Yeesh, it took way too long to get started on this. Well, like I said, this is the last Wendy chapter for a bit, and then we'll go back to the original three, I think. Either way, the chronological nonsense will end soon and we'll return to regular nonsense. I'm thinking Merudy's first period and Ultear having to give them The Talk, or something. Anyhow, it took some time to decide who should escort Wendy to Lamia Scale. I already decided that Richard and Merudy should go, and I think Jellal and Erik too, but I couldn't decide whether I wanted Sawyer to go or not, and then I remembered that they can't all go because they'd attract too much attention, so I eventually ended up choosing Richard, Merudy, and Sawyer. I hope I don't have to change that, because I'm not revising the AN.**

Story the Ninth: Richard and Sawyer's Excellent Adventure

Leaving was harder than expected, for both Wendy and Carla. They had not expected to bond with the fugitive group, and saying goodbye had an odd sort of finality to it, though Jellal swore that this would not be their last meeting. It had been decided that the duo would be escorted to Lamia Scale – not because anyone thought they couldn't take care of themselves, Merudy assured them, but rather because Richard wanted an excuse to say hi to Jura.

Despite this claim, however, Richard was not the only one accompanying the two. Merudy and Sawyer had decided to come along as well, which meant that Jellal had to stay behind and keep an eye on Macbeth, Sorano, and Erik, since he didn't trust them to behave. Erik gave Wendy a pat on the head and asked her to say hi to "that purple-haired chick from your guild" for whatever reason, Sorano hugged the young girl (and the cat, for whatever reason) and declared that they should come and chat again sometime, and Macbeth, who Wendy had been 99% sure was fast asleep, actually lifted his arm to wave goodbye.

Jellal, however, just smiled, and cryptically said that there was no need for goodbyes, as they would see each other again soon enough. Wendy hugged him anyway, and he returned the embrace.

"Bye, Onii-chan," she mumbled, not even bothering to pretend she wasn't crying. "See you soon."

"Definitely," he agreed. He knelt down and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes. "If anyone gives you any trouble, come let us know, alright?" Wendy beamed at him.

"So cute!" Merudy sniffed, rubbing at her eyes. Jellal just sighed.

"Don't let them corrupt her anymore," he told Carla. The Exceed smiled.

"I'll do my best," she promised. As the strange group took off, Wendy glanced once more over her shoulder and wondered if maybe she shouldn't have left.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Merudy began to giggle.

"Did you see the look on Jellal's face?" she asked. "I haven't seen him smile like that since–" she stopped, and her smile faded. "Actually, I don't think I've ever seen him smile like that."

"Didn't even know he could," Sawyer commented. "The only time I've ever seen him smile was in Macbeth's illusion, right before Zero killed him."

" _What_?" Wendy shrieked, spinning around to look at the thin man.

"Never fear," Richard boomed, patting Wendy's shoulder. "Jellal was unharmed, yes." Sawyer nodded.

"Completely embarrassing," he complained. "He was dodging my attacks like it was easy."

"Well, his Meteor spell is quite powerful." Carla stated.

"Yeah," Sawyer agreed, annoyed. "But he _wasn't using Meteor_."

"He was not, no." Richard confirmed. "He simply dodged. It was very impressive. Oh yeah!" Sawyer scowled.

"Jerk didn't even let us get a few hits in," he grumbled. "Though I gotta admit that it's better than just letting us hit him."

" _That_ would be embarrassing," Merudy agreed. "Especially since you'd know he wasn't just doing it to piss you off. Honestly, when Ultear and I sparred with him for the first time, he won by a landslide. Mind you, we were holding back, since he'd just gotten out of prison, but I was so embarrassed that I started crying!" she laughed. "After that, he made sure I won every single fight, until Ul told him that that was actually worse. He wouldn't stop apologizing for days."

"Good thing he's on our side, then," Carla commented. "I'd hate having to go against someone who nearly beat Jura."

"Jellal-san fought Jura-san?" Richard asked, curious. Wendy nodded.

"He used Mystogan's magic," she explained. "If Ultear-san hadn't intervened, he would have won."

"A good thing she did," Carla snapped. "What do you think would have happened if he'd been caught?" Wendy frowned, thinking about what Carla had said.

"That's true." She agreed.

"It really was incredible, though," Merudy sighed. "I only watched it through Ul's lacrima, but Jellal put up a great fight before we made him stop."

"I didn't know he knew Staves Magic," Sawyer said suspiciously.

"Neither did I," Merudy told him happily. "I think that was his first time, actually." There was a silence.

"What a frightening thought," Richard mused. "Jellal-san is very powerful. Oh yeah!" Sawyer shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, well," he grumbled. "Least he didn't send us back to prison."

"Did they treat you badly?" Wendy asked, worried. Sawyer stared at her for a moment, before remembering that she cared about him for some reason and snickering.

"Nah," he replied. "The food was crap, though." Merudy frowned.

"Actually, that reminds me," she said, suddenly. "Jellal was only in prison for a year before Ul and I broke him out, but you guys were there for like seven years, and you looked completely fine. Jellal looked like a famine victim or something."

"He embarrassed the Council," Sawyer explained. "As far as they're concerned, that's pretty much the worst offence there is. I heard something about solitary confinement. Couldn't say for sure, though. Just count yourself lucky that you didn't end up there." Merudy sighed.

"Ah, corrupt government officials," she said, shaking her head. "The only enemy worse than Zeref." Wendy giggled, Sawyer smirked, and Richard let out a booming laugh. Carla frowned.

"You shouldn't make light of such a fearsome opponent," she scolded. "Natsu, Elfman, and Evergreen ran into him on Tenrou Island, and they barely made it out alive. Apparently he showed up during the fight with Tartarus as well. He's the one who killed Mard Geer."

"He killed his own demon?" Richard asked, shocked. "How terrible."

"From what Gray-san said, he didn't approve of what they were doing," Wendy remembered. "Though I don't understand why he waited so long to interfere." Merudy shrugged.

"Probably comes from the whole 'batshit insane evil wizard' thing," she pointed out. "I mean, even if he weren't evil, living that long can't be healthy."

"I would argue that living so long is the freaking definition of healthy," Sawyer pointed out. Wendy looked down at the top of Carla's head, frowning.

"He's so strange…" she murmured. "I wish I understood him."

"Anyway," Merudy broke in, deciding that changing the subject was probably for the best. "What are you going to do once we reach Margaret Town?"

"I'll go to Lamia Scale, of course," Wendy replied. Sawyer crossed his arms behind his head.

"Do you know where it is?" he asked. Wendy was silent. Her cheeks reddened and she bit her lip. Merudy, Carla, and Richard all shot him death glares. "Uh, I'm sure we'll find it, no problem!" he yelped, wondering when Richard had learned to make such an evil look. "It's the only guild in town, isn't it? I'm sure everyone knows where to find it!" Wendy brightened up immediately.

"That's right!" she agreed happily. "Will you guys be alright, though? I mean, you're all wanted criminals…" Merudy shrugged.

"I, for one, will be fine," she said cheerfully. "The only one who knows what I look like is Doranbolt, and he's not telling. Actually, most of the Council doesn't even know I exist. The perks of only having been twelve when I was evil."

"Thanks for rubbin' it in," Sawyer grumbled, glaring at the pinkette.

"You're welcome!" she chirped.

"It will be worth the risk, yes," said Richard. "I am excited to see Jura-san again. Oh yeah!" Carla sighed.

"You realize that you're risking your freedom solely to see someone you had a five minute conversation with _seven years ago_ , right?" she asked. Merudy grinned.

"Don't bother," she said. "He's been excited about it for ages. Plus, I need to make sure that Lyon's really over Juvia. Lyvia was fine back when Ul was still around for me to ship with Gray, but now that she's gone, it's Gruvia all the way."

"Definitely," Wendy agreed. "Gruvia forever."

"You turned her into a shipper?" Sawyer asked. "Why does Jellal seem to think that you're more trustworthy than us again?"

"He thinks Richard is the most trustworthy, actually," the pinkette replied. "I just have group seniority. Besides, he didn't have to beat the crap out of me to get me to join."

"Well, you did break him out of prison," Carla pointed out.

"He still says we kidnapped him," Merudy told them cheerfully. "I still say it was puppies." Wendy stared at her blankly.

"Don't ask," Sawyer advised. "You _really_ don't want to know." Wendy nodded, and looked at the path in front of them. Margaret Town was beginning to come into view, and Wendy allowed thoughts of bubblegum pink hair and mischievous blue eyes to enter her mind.

"Ah, Wendy-san is thinking of her friend as well, no?" Richard asked, beaming down at the young girl. Wendy's already red cheeks darkened.

"Aw, that's adorable." Sawyer teased. "I remember when I was your age."

"Weren't you in a Dark Guild?" Merudy asked. Sawyer thought about it.

"Pretty sure I was still in the Tower," he admitted. "I'm pretty sure that the Rebellion didn't happen until I was around thirteen, but I don't really remember."

"I was fourteen, yes," Richard announced. "Brain came and got us rather soon after the Rebellion, however. Oh yeah!"

"That sounds like more of an "oh no" to me," Carla deadpanned. Merudy just laughed. The rest of the walk was filled with jokes, light-hearted teasing, and occasional random comments. Before Wendy realized it, she was standing in front of the Lamia Scale guildhall.

"You ready, squirt?" Sawyer asked, ruffling her hair. Wendy took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yeah." she said, eyes glinting. Merudy walked up to the door and knocked.

"Hello?" she called. "Anyone home?" The door opened, and a dog-like man poked his head out.

"If you've got a request, it's gotta go through the Council first," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Merudy sighed.

"I'm here to see Lyon," she said sweetly. "I thought he'd like to know that Gray's been selected as one of the next Ten Wizard Saints."

"WHAT?" they heard a voice from inside bellow. In a blur, Toby was tossed to the side and Lyon grabbed Merudy's shoulders. "Tell me you're joking!"

"I'm joking," she told him. Lyon sighed, relieved.

"Oh thank god," he mumbled. He took a better look at her. "Hey, I know you."

"Oh, _wow_ ," said Sawyer sarcastically. "Truly, your observational skills are something to behold." Lyon gave him a weird look.

"Have we met?" he asked. Realization crossed his face. "Oh, you're that guy who goes really fast! No, wait; you're the slow one. No, you're the one who makes everyone else fast! Jet, right?" Sawyer twitched.

"I know it's been seven years," he grumbled. "But you could at least remember the name of the guy who nearly killed you. It's _Racer_. And I make everyone else go _slower_ , dumbass." Lyon nodded.

"Right, right, I knew that." he said, distractedly. "Hey, aren't you with the Oración Seis?" he asked suspiciously.

"That depends," Sawyer responded. "Are you still trying to resurrect Deliora?" Lyon flinched.

"Low blow, man." He muttered, looking ashamed. "Still, I guess that was seven years ago. And you've got Wendy with you– did you kidnap her?"

"If it didn't work the first time, why would they try it again?" Carla snapped.

"Practice makes perfect, yes!" Richard exclaimed happily. Toby gave him a weird look.

"You aren't exactly helping your case, oon." He stated. Richard shrugged.

"Is Jura-san here?" he asked. Lyon shook his head.

"No, he's not," the Ice Make mage said. "He's out on official Wizard Saint business." Richard looked down sadly.

"Don't worry, Richard-san," Wendy patted him on the arm. "I'm sure you'll see him again soon." Richard brightened.

"Oh yeah!" he cheered. Lyon glanced up at the sky.

"It's going to rain soon," he said. "Why don't you guys come on in?"

"You do know that three of us are wanted criminals, right?" Merudy asked.

"You had my back during the Games," Lyon told the pinkette. "I haven't forgotten. Juvia and Gray as well. I've learned to put more faith in Fairy Tail than the Council." He turned to Wendy. "I heard about the whole disbanding thing," Lyon added, softly. "I'm sorry." Wendy gave him a tiny smile, and he and Toby walked the five guests into the guild. It wasn't too big a deal, since the only other people who really knew Richard and Sawyer were Jura and Sherry, neither of which would give them away. Almost as soon as Wendy entered the building, a blur of pink launched itself towards her, leaving Carla with barely enough time to squirm out of Wendy's arms before impact.

"Wendy!" Sherria squealed. "Oh gosh, it's been way too long!"

"It's only been a couple months!" Carla pointed out, disgruntled. Wendy laughed, embracing her friend.

"I missed you," Sherria told her. Merudy giggled, and Wendy beamed.

"Me too!"

 **AN: So, yeah, I haven't been working on my stories much lately, for a lot of reasons. Anyway, this is the last chapter of the mini-arc that I've decided to call the "Wendy Adventures" arc. Hey, if it works for Pokémon, it works for me. Anyhow, I usually do a little epilogue thing in the AN at the end of the chapter, which is mostly just encouragement for you guys to actually read the bloody author's notes. Seriously, guys, they're there for a reason. Regardless, here you go: It really did start raining, and the CS group ended up spending the night. However, they didn't have anyway of contacting Jellal, so he panicked and came after them, dragging Erik, Sorano, and Macbeth along with him, and Wendy got to say goodbye all over again. Jellal was a lot more recognizable than the others, but nobody did anything since he'd saved all of them at least once. Despite this, he insisted upon apologizing anyway, though not before giving Lyon a very dark look and loudly mentioning that Ultear could and most likely** _ **would**_ **pop up again if anything were to happen to Merudy. Having all the emotional sensitivity of his longtime rival/adoptive brother Gray, Lyon had no idea what he was talking about. Erik collected blackmail material on everyone and told Wendy to yell really loudly if she needed anything, Sorano ended up chatting with Sherry in what was a very awkward conversation that turned into a very awkward silence when the former learned that the latter would soon be joining Blue Pegasus, Sawyer gained the respect of the entire guild by slowing down their Master's spinning, Richard built a stone statue of Jura for no reason based off of a picture he saw, Merudy tried to get Sherria and Wendy together while also making sure that Lyon was completely and totally over Juvia, Jellal sat in a corner and drowned in a puddle of self-loathing, and Macbeth either slept through the whole thing or did a very good job of not noticing the pudding that landed on top of his head. Lamia Scale wasn't Fairy Tail, but they had their moments. Eventually, Crime Sorcière left, Carla learned how to turn into a catgirl, and Wendy and Sherria's relationship gained even more erotic subtext. The end. Happy? See you next time!**


	10. First Blood

**AN: So I got some criticism for my last FT oneshot. And that's good – feedback is good. Still, only one person actually explained what they disliked, so… yeah, I guess it was more about Lucy's thoughts on her former enemies, in a sense, but for me, it's hard to think about one thing without connecting it to another thing. Lucy's smarter than some people give her credit for, so I think she'd notice the similarities. It's not just Natsu and Jellal, though, Zeref's part of that 'awkward comparisons' triangle as well. Yeah, they're all different. Natsu's a reckless idiot, while Jellal thinks things through and Zeref has four hundred years of experience to know better. Jellal blames himself for everything, while Zeref only blames himself for things he knows he caused and Natsu doesn't know what responsibility is. Zeref has completely given up on living, while Natsu always sees value in his life and Jellal knows that there are things worth living for. Still, all three of them are very convicted in their separate beliefs, and all of them accidently troll their girls at some point. Zeref and Jellal both feel lost and confused about their lives and the women they love, Jellal and Natsu are both determined to protect their loved ones at all costs, and Natsu and Zeref– well, let's not get into that just yet. So, for those of you who didn't like As I Look Skyward, I decided to write a little something else: namely, another chapter of Witch's Sin. Hopefully, this will at least get a chuckle or two. I hope you enjoy this, and I apologize if my last story didn't meet your expectations. Thanks for reading!**

 **Warning: In this story, Jellal, Ultear, and Merudy face their most fearsome opponent yet – puberty. I warned you.**

Story the Tenth: First Blood

Jellal had not spent very long as a member of Crime Sorcière (they'd only destroyed, like, twenty Dark Guilds or something; talk about a let down – it had been four months already), but he felt an attachment of sorts to his new comrades. Ultear was kind of hard to be around, partly because she was the one who'd brainwashed him, but also because she kept trying to make him feel less guilty. Merudy, on the other hand, was a different story.

The girl was only just touching down on the emotional side of herself, which resulted in a mixture of awkward outbursts and long, dull silences. Still, she was sweet and Jellal thought she was fun to spend time with. She was the reason he had been able to forgive Ultear, after all, though it helped that he mostly still blamed himself. Thus, when he woke up to the sound of Merudy's scream, he was understandably concerned.

"Merudy!" he burst into her– well, he rolled over. They were sharing a cave, not a house (Jellal slept facing the wall, since Ultear had no problems with him seeing her naked). She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm _dying_!" she sobbed, flinging her arms around his neck. Jellal held her awkwardly, wondering where Ultear had gone off to (she was probably getting food, but she might also have been going to the bathroom/'pissing tree', as Merudy called it). His nose twitched, and iron filled his nostrils, waking him up completely.

"You are bleeding!" he yelled, grabbing her shoulders and looking her in the eye. "Where are you hurt? I will bandage it up right away, you–" he stopped as Merudy blushed, awkwardly pointing down towards her legs. "Your legs?" he asked, confused. That wasn't usually fatal, unless she meant the artery in her– oh. He let out a deep sigh of relief. "You are not dying, Merudy."

"I'm not?" she asked, sniffling. He shook his head, smiling uncomfortably. He had assumed that, since Merudy had already started developing breasts when he had first met her, she would know about these things. _Goddamnit, Ultear_.

"No, you are not." he said, taking a deep breath. "Er, Merudy, did Ultear by any chance ever mention something called 'puberty'?" Merudy blinked, confused.

"She might've said something about it when this started," she said, gesturing towards her chest. "She was kind of crying, though. Something about me growing up, I think." Jellal nodded, silently cursing Ultear. He had gotten "The Talk" from Brain when he was fifteen (and no, he hadn't had any idea that having a bunch of weird thoughts about Erza – who, at that point, had been his enemy – was completely and totally normal), and it was not as mentally scarring as one might have expected it to be, especially since Brain believed in efficiency. There had been an unnecessary amount of visuals, though, thanks to Brain's archive, and Ultear had teased him for weeks (even though they had both been evil, neither would deny that they had had some good times together).

"Merudy, there comes a time in the life of every young girl when her body starts to change," he explained, grateful that Brain had decided to tell him about female puberty as well as male. Give the guy some credit – he would have made a great science teacher, if he hadn't been a raging psychopath. "She begins to grow breasts, as well as hair on other parts of her body. Similar things happen to men, although it is a bit different. Anyway, your body is changing now, and the blood is a part of that." Merudy blinked.

"But why do I need to bleed for my body to change?" she asked. "And why from _down there_?" Jellal squirmed uncomfortably, but he felt obligated to answer.

"Well… your body is preparing you for, uh, reproduction." He told her. "The blood mixes with some other… stuff, and acts as a cushion for a potential baby. Once a month, your body gets rid of it all. It is called 'menstruation'."

"More commonly known as a 'period'," Ultear said, walking back into the cave. "Merudy was complaining about cramps last night, so I went shopping for some supplies this morning, just in case." Jellal frowned at her.

"You could have warned me," he complained. "I do not know very much about the workings of the female body, aside from what Brain told me, and he seemed to believe that I did not need to know too much. I assume because he was aware that I was not myself at the time." Ultear shrugged.

"Actually, I think he thought you were gay," she said bluntly. Jellal choked, and made some spluttering sounds. Merudy, having calmed down, giggled at her friend's plight. "I thought so too," Ultear continued. "I actually just assumed that Erza was an exception or something."

"That's true," Merudy agreed. "I mean, you've seen Ul naked loads of times, and you never even got a Pants Tent like Zancrow used to." Jellal raised his eyebrows.

"Why is it that she knows about erections but not the menstrual cycle?" he asked. Ultear just shrugged.

"I had to explain it to her somehow," she said. "And she was too little to go into detail. Speaking of detail, why _didn't_ you get a boner? Aren't I pretty?"

"No, I mean yes, but no, I –" Jellal inhaled deeply. "I am not having this conversation," he stated.

"Is it because I'm not a redhead?" Ultear teased. Jellal flushed.

"I do not know what you are talking about," he said, crossing his arms.

"Man, you're a bad liar," Merudy told him. "Ul, teach me what to do with this stuff." She was waving around a pack of tampons. Jellal decided to cut his losses and get the hell out of there.

"I am going to go make something to eat," he said. Ultear grinned after him.

"Don't get too _excited_ , Lover Boy!" she called. Jellal tripped, face as red as his tattoo. Merudy and Ultear just laughed. Jellal hoped that the Tenrou group got back soon. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take, but he was fairly certain that it was less than he eventually would have to.

Five and a half years. Apparently.

 **AN: Well, I hope that was good. I know it wasn't as long as the last chapter, but I really wanted to get this out, and honestly? It's kind of hard to drag out a story about a fourteen year old with a decently sized rack somehow only now just getting her first period. I told you, being evil fucks up puberty. And yes, that will be my excuse for any plot holes. Also, please note that these oneshots are not only non-chronological, not all of them fit together. For example, in a previous, Erik very clearly knows Kinana's name (though he has yet to officially learn it in the anime), but a couple chapters later, he gives a vague description of her that could apply to Laki as well, even though both chapters are in the same arc. Yes, I am aware of it. Was it intentional? Does it matter? I don't know. Either way, am I the only one who thinks that Jellal is probably more into guys than girls? Like, Erza's the exception to that, y'know? Well, that, or he's Erza-sexual. It's a thing. Trust me. Also, Jellal is allergic to using contractions. I guess an apostrophe killed his dog or something. I'm going to go back through the older chapters and make sure that this is still true. I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	11. Over the Rainbow

**AN: So I remembered a request for some CS/LS interaction, and, to be honest, I didn't intend to have Lamia Scale do much more in this story, but then I remembered something: I love those guys too. Plus, there's just so much room for bro-ness. I mean, Richard and Jura, Merudy and freaking everyone, Sawyer and his inability to stop snarking at people, Jellal and his issues (that's a canon ship, no matter what anyone says), Wendy and Erik, etc. While I haven't come up with anything for that yet, I had decided to bring back our favorite child-eating losers (look up 'Lamia') at some point. If anyone has any ideas for that, go ahead and send 'em in. Remember, they can contradict things that have already happened. I don't really care about continuity with this one, since most of this will be disproved by canon (or already has been). I just rewatched some of the GMG episodes, and, in the dub, when Cobra shows up, Kinana actually says, "It's my Erik!" and it's like the greatest thing ever and I need some Kinabra right now. So, finally, another main character appears, leaving everyone else to wonder when the hell Erza's gonna show up. Patience. It will happen sooner or later. Eventually. Probably. Maybe. Eh.**

Story the Eleventh: Over the Rainbow

Ever since Erza had told her that the Oración Seis had joined up with Crime Sorcière, Kinana had had absolutely no idea how to feel. On the one hand, she was happy that they were out of prison and not on the side of evil. On the other hand, she, a former member of the Oración Seis (though she didn't really remember much of it), also no longer had a guild, as Fairy Tail had disbanded, which made her wonder if she should join Crime Sorcière as well. She might not be able to remember it, but she was fairly certain she committed a crime or two, and she kinda felt bad about that. She definitely felt bad about nearly killing Erza.

At the moment, though, her biggest regret was that she did not know where she (or anyone else) was. She had come to Crocus with Laki, but they had gotten separated, and now Kinana had no idea what to do. And, apparently, it showed.

"S'cuse me, miss," she heard. "Ya look a wee bit lost." Looking up, she saw the last thing any relatively defenseless ex-snake wants to see – an old drunken guy. It seemed that there were quite a few running around.

"I'm fine, thanks," she mumbled, turning to leave. Her heart leapt into her throat as she felt his hand firmly attached to her wrist. "Please let go."

"C'mon, luv," another man stepped forward, grinning at her. "Don't go an' be like that. We jus' wanna have some fun, 's all." Tugging at her wrist, Kinana drew a breath to scream for help. A hand covered her mouth. _Oh good. Now there's three_ , she thought to herself.

 _Three what_? Someone thought back. Kinana started. Oh. Right. There was that weird mental link with Erik. _Cubellios? Is everything all right_?

 _No_ , she thought back. _How far from Crocus are you_?

 _About half an hour's worth of me running really fast_ , Erik admitted. _Do you need me to bully Boss into helping you out_? Kinana nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her.

 _That would be nice, she replied. There're three guys here, and I think they're all drunk. Laki-chan is here somewhere, but I don't know where._

 _You feel scared, Erik said. Boss is on his way. We're right behind him. If they touch you, I'll tear them limb from limb._

"My friend is nearby," Kinana bluffed. Half and hour was a long time to stall, relatively. Of course, Jellal would probably only take a few minutes with his Meteor, but she didn't want to get Erza's not-boyfriend in trouble. In reality, though, Jellal was about as subtle as a train wreck. On a boat. With Natsu involved. At least, judging by his reckless behavior during the Grand Magic Games.

"Does she wanna join in?" the second man slurred. "'S always room fer more." Kinana swallowed.

"Actually, she's pretty weird," Kinana said, actually being honest this time. "I think I already said 'no', though, so if you could just let me go…"

"No means yes," the man covering her mouth whispered in her ear. He was significantly less drunk than his buddies. "Ev'ryone knows that."

"And yes means no?" Kinana asked hopefully. All three of them snickered.

"Yes means _anal_!" the first man exclaimed, practically falling over in a fit of drunken giggles. He really did fall over when Kinana's foot placed itself firmly between his legs.

"You little cunt!" the second man yelled, raising his hand to hit her. Kinana flinched away from the blow, but it never came. Jellal had caught the man's wrist.

"That," the fugitive said quietly, "is no way to talk to a lady. Or anyone else, for that matter." All three attackers stared at him.

"You- you're-" the first one mumbled, obviously recognizing the infamous criminal even in his inebriated state.

"I am Jellal Fernandes, yes," he said. "And this young lady is a member of Fairy Tail and a friend of my guild. I am not sure who would be worse to piss off, but I suggest you do not attempt to find out." Grumbling, the men slithered away.

"You're not going to report them?" Kinana asked, not sure of what else to say.

"I am on the run for terrorism, murder, attempted murder, and betraying my country," Jellal said dryly. "I do not believe that I am in any position to be reporting anyone. Erik, however, likely intends to hunt them down and kill them; thus, I would like to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Right," Kinana mumbled. "Um, thanks." Jellal shook his head.

"Not at all," he replied. "I am always happy to help a member of Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail's over, though," Kinana said, looking down. She'd thought that Erza would have told him. Jellal smiled at her.

"I do not believe Fairy Tail will ever be 'over'," he said. "So long as Natsu is around, at least." Kinana was about to tell him that no one knew where Natsu was, but before she could, someone interrupted.

"Kinana-chan!" Laki ran up to them. "I thought my ears were penetrated by your voice!" Jellal blinked.

"That means 'I thought I heard you'," Kinana told him. Laki turned to the blue-haired man.

"Oh, uh, hi, Mystogan!" she chirped. "Weird seeing you without your mask."

"Actually, I am–" Jellal began.

"Erza said you were Mystogan," Laki said flatly. "I'm not arguing with her. I like my lungs right where they are, thanks." She glanced at Kinana. "Look, he's cute and everything, but I wouldn't piss off Erza either. This isn't that guy you were talking about, right?" Kinana blushed.

"Um, no, that's–" she started, but, like Jellal, she too was interrupted. This time, however, it was by Erik, who had apparently decided to make his entrance by falling out of the sky.

"FUCK YOU, YOU NARCOLEPTIC SHE-MALE!" he bellowed. The other three stared at him. "Took Macbeth's stupid flying carpet," the maroon-haired male grumbled. "Fucker apparently doesn't like making it go fast."

"Oh, we're here," noted Macbeth, lowering his carpet to hover a few inches above the ground. "I only threw you off because I thought you were going to vomit." Erik's ears reddened.

"That was one time, you asshole!" he hissed. Kinana giggled, and Erik turned to her. "Everything all right, Cubellios?" he asked. She nodded.

"Jellal-san scared them all off," she said. "I was a bit nervous, though."

"Who'd he scare off?" Laki asked, leaning in. "More importantly, which one of these hotties is your boyfriend, Kina?" Macbeth and Jellal pointed at Erik.

"Best friend, not boyfriend," Erik corrected. Laki frowned.

"Well, you'd better start being her boyfriend, because the 'best friend' position for Kina is filled by yours truly." Laki informed him. Erik glowered at her.

"Look, four-eyes, you don't wanna pick a fight with me," he growled.

"Nobody is picking a fight with anybody," Jellal interrupted. He crossed his arms and gave Erik his best 'Boss says no' look. Macbeth booed.

"Somebody should kill something," he complained.

"Well, Mystogan just killed the mood," Laki pointed out. Macbeth shrugged.

"Good enough," he muttered. Jellal sighed.

"Want me to go chase down the guys who were bugging you?" Erik asked Kinana. She blushed, half wanting to say yes, but not wanting him to get in trouble.

" _No_ ," said Jellal. "If you two like, you are welcome to spend some time getting to know one another, but I would rather not do so in the middle of a city where three of us are likely to get arrested."

"Ooh, can we go to your secret lair?" Laki asked eagerly.

"If by 'secret lair', you mean 'shitty cave'," Erik muttered. Macbeth patted his flying carpet; he was glad to have been reunited with the old thing.

"You two can ride the carpet," he told them. "Senpai says you can visit, so it's okay with me too. Erik can't ride." Erik flipped him off.

"How the fuck am I gonna get back, then?" he demanded.

"Walk!" Laki chirped, hopping on the carpet. "Ooh, comfy!" Macbeth's lips twitched into what might have been the world's smallest and creepiest (but somehow still sincere) smile.

"I can carry you," Jellal offered. Erik gave him a look. "Or not."

"Come on, Kina," Laki said, grinning at her friend while simultaneously smirking at Erik. "The carpet's great." Kinana glanced at Erik.

"Go ahead," he grumbled. "I'll figure something out." Kinana nodded, and scrambled onto the carpet, which wasn't really big enough to fit three people. Laki sat on Macbeth, who didn't look like he cared. As the carpet began to lift off, Erik grabbed onto the bottom.

"Dick," Macbeth grumbled, freezing the carpet in place. "Not moving 'til you get off." Jellal grabbed the back of Erik's shirt, and prepared to activate Meteor.

"We will meet you there," he said. Erik opened his mouth to complain, but quickly shut it as Jellal's Meteor kicked in and the two disappeared in a burst of light. He didn't want to catch flies, after all. Laki and Kinana's flight with Macbeth was speedy enough, but very serene as well.

"Nice view," Laki noted. Macbeth snored. Kinana sighed.

"He's asleep," she told her friend. Laki blinked.

"When did that happen?" she asked. Kinana shrugged.

"I'm not sure if was ever awake at all," she admitted. Laki raised an eyebrow.

"I heard him talking earlier," she pointed out. "And your boyfriend said he pushed him off." Kinana blushed.

"Not my boyfriend," she mumbled.

"Denial," the probably-still-asleep-but-who-knows-at-this-point Macbeth said. Laki looked between the two of them, and decided it was best not to ask.

When they arrived at Crime Sorcière's 'secret lair' (which was, as Erik had said, a cave), Erik was in the middle of yelling at a bored-looking Jellal.

"…Coulda ripped my clothes off, you dick!" he bellowed. "If we'd been goin' any faster, I'da been naked by now!"

"Some guys seem to really enjoy it," Sawyer said, between snickers.

"I! AM NOT! FULLBUSTER!" Erik roared. "Or Vastia! Fuck both of them, and their goddamn stripping! Don't fuckin' use your fuckin' Meteor without some fuckin' warning!" Jellal sighed.

"Erik, watch your mouth," he scolded. Sawyer shoved his whole fist in his mouth in an attempt to keep from laughing, Merudy was giggling behind her hands, and even Richard was trying to hide a smile. Sorano, however, was nowhere to be found. "We have company," Jellal continued. "Imagine what they must think of us."

"I think you guys are hilarious," Laki said bluntly. The group turned to look at the guests. Laki and Kinana hopped off the carpet, looking around the surprisingly well-lit cave.

"Hey, it's Cubellios!" Sawyer exclaimed, waving. "Long time no see!" Kinana shyly waved back. Richard enveloped her in a hug.

"It's very good to see you again!" he boomed. "Oh yeah! Though I must admit, you are significantly less scaly. Oh yeah!" Kinana blushed, and Richard released her.

"Well, I'm a human again," she mumbled. "Though I don't really remember much before Master Makarov turned me back." Erik glanced over his shoulder.

"Oi, Sorano!" he called. "Guess who's visiting?" The silver-haired woman stalked out of the back of the cave from where she had apparently been taking a nap. It was, Kinana thought, a surprisingly big cave. Upon seeing Kinana, Sorano squealed, and threw herself forward.

"Cubellios!" she exclaimed. "Oh my god, you're just as adorable as Erik said!"

"I didn't call her 'adorable'," Erik grumbled. Sorano ignored him.

"We _need_ to catch up," she complained. "I never got to talk to you back in the Oración Seis!" Kinana giggled.

"Well, I _was_ a snake back then," she reminded her. Sorano grinned, tugging her over to the other ex-members of their old guild (and Jellal). Laki was about to follow, but she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Merudy beckon her outside the cave.

"Hope you don't mind," the pinkette said quietly. "But this isn't exactly a conversation you and I can be a part of." Laki tilted her head in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "I mean, Mystogan wasn't in the Oración Seis either, right?" Merudy shook her head.

"It's not that," she said. "They all grew up together, in the Tower of Heaven. It makes it awkward sometimes, since I end up feeling like I don't belong, but they're still a lot of fun. Anyway, I just thought that maybe you and I could find some common ground, but right now the only female friends I have are an overprotective older sister type, her crybaby little sister, said sister's guild mate, and a bunch of people whose locations are a complete mystery to me. Oh, and Erza, but she's more like my big sister, so…" Laki nodded.

"I get it," the Wood Make Mage said. "Friends need to be refreshed every now and then." Merudy sweatdropped.

"Not sure that's how I'd put it," she said. "But yeah, something like that."

"So…" Laki began, after a couple minutes of awkward silence, "is that Macbeth guy single?"

 **AN: What the hell I don't even. Yeah, I officially have no idea what I'm doing. I am not going to apologize. Also, I got a review from 'Morning Guest', who, as their name suggested, was a guest. I'd like to take the time to respond: Morning Guest, while I understand your view on the Lyredy pairing, I don't agree with it. Ultear's relationship with Gray may be reminiscent of siblings, but she doesn't actually know Lyon (well, he doesn't know her, anyway). Merudy and Lyon didn't meet until the GMG arc, when he was twenty-six and she was either in her late teens or her early twenties. They're about the same age (give or take a few years), have no familial connections, and could plausibly be a couple given their personalities. Luckily for you, though, I don't intend this fic to be based on romance, since these guys are funny enough without them. Right now, Merudy and Lyon don't know each other well enough to have much of a relationship at all. However, it's pretty much impossible for those two to avoid getting to know one another, seeing as they both have very strong connections to Gray and Juvia. Will the eventual "I know you" stage turn into a friendship? Probably. Will it become more than that? I couldn't tell you. What I can tell you is that, while I do think Lyredy is adorable, Lyon is not a major character in this fic, so it isn't something you should be too worried about.**


	12. The Color Scarlet

**AN: You know what's missing from this story? ERZA. Yeah. You'd think one of the main characters of both Fairy Tail and this story would have shown up by now. So, where is she? Well… I got sick of putting off her arrival. See, I've never really written Erza before. Surprised? Well, it's true. Erza is such a complex character that I worry I'll fuck up, but I'm not putting it off any longer. So, with all that said, I hope you enjoy my Erza! Thanks for reading!**

Story the Twelfth: The Color Scarlet

It was rather surprising that it had taken so long – they had all known it would happen sooner or later. That's not to say it hadn't been relatively early on in their days as a guild, but it had still taken longer than anyone had thought. Surprisingly enough, the first person to realize she was coming wasn't Erik.

"Erza's coming?" Erik asked, astounded. "How the hell do you know that? I haven't heard anything." Jellal shrugged.

"I just know," he said simply. Merudy giggled.

"He always knows," she said, grinning. "He and Erza have some sort of crazy mental link." Sawyer raised an eyebrow.

"Like, telepathically?" he asked. "Because natural mental links are pretty rare. I think you actually have to intentionally form one most of the time."

"It's the result of love," Richard proclaimed. "Oh yeah!" Erik snorted.

"Well, that much is obvious," he pointed out. "Even Macbeth figured out that they like each other."

"Th-that is not the situation!" Jellal protested. Macbeth opened one eye.

"I have seen people falling down the stairs who are less head over heels than you," he said, smirking. Jellal frowned.

"And how many of those people did you push?" he asked. Macbeth shrugged.

"Most of them, probably," he replied. "But the journey is more important than the reason for it."

"That's not how that saying goes," Merudy told him. "But you've got a point. The only reason those two aren't together is because Jellal is a phenomenally bad liar."

"Oh, you mean the fiancée thing?" Sorano asked. Jellal blanched.

"You told them?" he yelped.

"I didn't think it would be a good idea to keep secrets," Merudy said innocently.

"Tell your own, then," he grumbled. Erik cleared his throat.

"Hot redhead at three-o-clock," he told them. They all looked at him. "Oh yeah, Erza's here too, seven-o-clock."

"Greetings," said Erza, trying not to laugh. Jellal scrambled to his feet.

"How long–"

"Three and a half minutes," Erik said, grinning ear to ear. Jellal sighed.

"I apologize, Erza," he said. She shook her head.

"Not at all," she replied, smiling warmly. "It's good to see that you're all getting along. I was a bit worried." The two exchanged smiles. Erik pretended to gag.

"Stop that," Merudy hissed, elbowing him. "This is adorable."

"How are you all doing?" Erza asked, ignoring Erik and Merudy.

"I'm just fine," Sorano said, rolling her shoulders. "But if you can convince your boyfriend that these cloaks are unnecessary, that'd be great."

"I do not have a boyfriend," Erza informed her, lips twitching in amusement. "But I actually quite like the cloaks." Sorano groaned.

"Hey, why'd Fairy Tail disband?" Erik demanded. "I never heard a reason."

"I'm not quite sure myself," Erza confessed. "I'm sure Master had a reason, though. He's not the type to do something so outrageous without a very serious reason. I don't know for certain where most of the others are, but I've been in contact with both Gray and Levy, and they seem all right. By the way, Jellal, I thought you intended to recruit all of the Oración Seis. Where's Brain?" Jellal gestured to Erik, who shrugged.

"I may or may not have carved a new hole in his torso," the Dragon Slayer said, grinning. "Payback's a bitch." Erza raised an eyebrow.

"I… see…"

"It was before Merudy and I arrived," Jellal added. "In all honesty, though, I am not extremely torn up about his loss." There were murmurs of assent and hissed curse words from the Oración Seis.

"I was under the impression that he was like a father to you lot," Erza said.

"He gave zero shits about us," Sawyer snarled. "Why should we give any about him, huh?" Richard nodded.

"While I do not wish to advocate murder, I will agree that the world is a better place without him," the large man said. "Oh yeah!"

"I'm all for advocating murder on this one," Merudy said shamelessly. "He's the one who ruined Ul's life."

"And, by default, the rest of us," Macbeth added. He looked at Erza. "That goes for you too." Erza bit her lip and nodded.

"I don't believe I will be shedding any tears over him," she confessed. "I hope that was the last life you intend to take, though."

"Our guild's main goal is to kill someone," Erik pointed out. "I mean, I know Zeref's a dick and all, but murder is murder, right? Kinda hard to pretend we ain't plottin' to kill someone when that's the reason we're all here."

"That's fair," Erza allowed. "However, when the time comes to fight that battle, I assure you that Crime Sorcière will not be the only guild with blood on its hands."

"I thought Fairy Tail didn't kill their enemies," Merudy said, frowning. "That's what Juvia said, anyway." Erza looked away.

"To protect the people we love, there is very little we will not do." She said quietly. "This goes for Juvia as well, I believe. That does not mean we will not feel guilt over it. All we can do is what we believe is best and not look back. Focusing on the past never got anyone anywhere."

"Is everything you say something out of a crappy romance novel?" Erik asked.

"Cobra, have you ever even read a romance novel?" Erza asked. He shrugged.

"No, but I think that's what they'd sound like," he told her.

"Erza," Macbeth spoke up. The redheaded woman turned to him. "We are going by our true names now." She nodded.

"In that case, I suppose we should reintroduce ourselves," she decided. "I am Erza Scarlet, also known as 'Titania', S-Class mage of Fairy Tail." Macbeth gave a small smile.

"I am Macbeth," he told her. "Formerly known as 'Midnight', former member of the Oración Seis and the Reborn Oración Seis, and current member of Crime Sorcière."

"This is dumb," Sawyer said flatly. Sorano elbowed him.

"I'm Sorano Agria," she introduced herself. "Formerly known as 'Angel', former member of the Six Generals, and currently a member of Crime Sorcière."

"I am Richard Buchanan!" Richard declared. "Oh yeah! Formerly Hoteye of the Oración Seis, and currently attempting to atone for my sins as a member of Crime Sorcière! Oh yeah!"

"I'm with Sawyer," Erik said. "This is stupid."

"I'm Merudy!" Merudy chirped. "Former member of Grimoire Heart and one of the founders of Crime Sorcière." She turned to Erik and grinned. He blanched.

"Okay, okay, geez," he muttered. "Ya little psycho. I'm Erik, used to be Cobra, formerly of the Six Generals, blah blah blah, I'm in this guild now. Happy?"

"Thrilled," Merudy told him. Erik looked at Sawyer.

"It's not worth it, man," he said. "Pinky's a demon."

"Fine, whatever, I don't care," Sawyer grumbled. "Name's Sawyer, formerly Racer, ex-Oración Seis, ex-Reborn Oración Seis, now I'm here. Yay."

"What about you, Jellal?" Erza asked. Jellal sweatdropped.

"I believe everyone here knows who I am," he pointed out. "I do not see the point of–" Erza frowned.

"Everyone else in your guild did, though," she pointed out.

"Yes, well, if everyone in Fairy Tail jumped off a bridge, would you–" Jellal stopped. "Never mind. Of course you would. Very well." He cleared his throat. "I am Jellal Fernandes. This… is actually the only guild I have ever been a member of. I did go by Siegrain once, though." Erza clapped, eyes gleaming.

"Wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Anyway, Jellal, I wanted to know how you guys were doing."

"We are fine, mostly," Jellal replied.

"Nobody's died since Brain!" Merudy informed her happily. "At least, not by our hands." Erik's eye twitched.

"I killed Brain!" he snapped. "Don't make it sound like a group effort!"

"It was a group effort!" Sorano protested. "We provided motive and moral support!" Sawyer rolled his eyes.

"We didn't even know what he was gonna do," the skinny man pointed out.

"I guessed," Macbeth said bluntly. "I just didn't care."

"Anyway," Erza said, a bit louder than was strictly necessary. "How do you guys feel about being on the side of righteousness?"

"I think you're a drama queen," Macbeth told her. The other former members of the Oración Seis (sans Richard) nodded.

"I think it feels wonderful!" Richard boomed. "Oh yeah! Once I have properly atoned for my sins, I shall be able to face Wally with pride!"

"There's someone I want to find," Sorano said suddenly. "I don't particularly care about 'righteousness', but if being on the side of the light means I can find that person, I'm all for it." Erik nodded.

"I gotta find someone as well," he said. "She's out there, somewhere."

"I don't know where Kinana is," Erza said, "but I can try to get in contact with her, if you'd like."

"So her name's 'Kinana' now, huh," he mused. "Nah, that's all right. I don't want to drag her into this. Thanks anyway."

"He said 'thanks'!" Sorano gasped, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. "They grow up so fast!" Erik tackled her, and began tickling her sides. She giggled madly, flailing at him. Merudy's eyes sparkled.

"I like this guild," she declared. Erza smiled.

"It's good that they get along," she said. She turned to Jellal. "Will you be alright?" He nodded.

"Yes. And yourself?" she smiled at him.

"I'll be fine," she told him. She held out her hand, requipping a communications lacrima. "I'd like to stay in touch, though. Just in case."

"Of course," Jellal replied. "If you need help, let me know. Though I have a feeling it will be the other way around." She chuckled.

"Yes, well," she turned to leave, glancing over her shoulder. "I do have some experience calming down rowdy crowds." And then she was gone, leaving Jellal standing there with a lacrima in his hand staring after her. Macbeth smirked at him.

"You lllllllliiiiike her."

 **AN: I REGRET NOTHING! Okay, so I regret some things. Anyway, I was finally able to get this chapter out, and I swear to god I'll finish the next chapter of Deicide soon. I'm thinking the next chapter of this story, which will be chapter thirteen, should be Halloween-themed. Like, a giant costume party. I think I know who'll go as what. What do you guys think? Well, see you next time! Thanks for reading!**


	13. All Hallows' Eve

**AN: Okay, so, as of now, only one person wanted a Halloween special. Last year, I did a Halloween special for Acnologia is Not Your Father… and it came out about a week after Halloween. To avoid that, I'm starting this now, in the hopes that it'll be posted on the 31** **st** **. Problem? I'm extremely busy that day, because some retarded motherfucker decided that LUDI should be happening then. And yes, I do have to go. Plus, I'm hanging with a couple of my friends, so I'll have to find time for that as well. I'll figure something out, though. With that aside, I hope you enjoy the Halloween special, and kudos to anyone who figures out where the costumes come from. Thanks for reading! Oh yeah, and this is an AU that doesn't make any sense at all (for a million reasons), but fuck it. I'm gonna have some fun.**

Story the Thirteenth: All Hallows' Eve

The party had, surprisingly enough, been Minerva's idea. Despite this, it was being held at Lucy's house, partly because the two had worked together, and partly because Lucy's house was enormous. The two hostesses, along with Leo and Virgo, were waiting by the door, already in costume. Lucy was wearing a bunnygirl outfit that she had most likely gotten from Erza, Leo was wearing a black outfit with bright green lining, Virgo appeared to be dressed as an Arabian dancer (though she kept her maid headband), and Minerva… well, her outfit was mostly bright red, with a red wrap around her breasts, red gloves, red short shorts, white boots, and a white umbrella emblazoned with the Saber Tooth logo in bright red.

"You guys look amazing," Erza said, eyes sparkling. She was dressed as a Chinese assassin, with her hair pulled up into two buns. She wore a purple dress with a heart-shaped opening showing off her cleavage, golden earrings, and black gloves with furry lining. She also held a very sharp blade.

"Uh, is that a real sword?" Lucy asked. Erza nodded happily.

"It was expensive, but I wanted my costume to be as authentic as possible." She explained. "Guess what? Jellal offered to buy it for me!" Leo gave the blue-haired man a thumbs-up. He shrugged, looking embarrassed.

"I just thought– well, it looked expensive, but she really wanted it," he confessed.

"You lllliiiike her," Virgo and Macbeth said together. Jellal sighed.

"We're engaged," he pointed out. "So one would certainly hope so." The bluenette was dressed as a pirate, with a black headband, cutlass (this blade, however, was plastic), gold belt, revolver (also fake, as Jellal was not insane), and some sort of skull thing dangling from the white sash around his waist. His shirt was surprisingly revealing, which likely meant that Erza had chosen it. Macbeth… didn't appear to be wearing a costume. He was instead dressed in a purple shirt, light brown trousers that really didn't match, and a long, fur-lined jacket that was draped over his shoulders instead of actually being worn. He also had an uncharacteristic pair of headphones with spikes.

"I'm Laxus," he clarified. Lucy choked, and Minerva sniggered.

"You're an asshole," Laxus corrected. He was dressed as some sort of martial artist, with a purples headband, white coat (that he was actually wearing, surprisingly), and matching white pants. Macbeth gave him the creepiest grin he could manage.

"I just said that."

"Don't talk about Laxus like that!" Freed protested. Freed was dressed as an archer, wearing a green shirt that was almost the exact color of his hair, dark blue pants, and a brown satchel. He currently had an arrow knocked and pointed at Macbeth.

"Put that thing down," Evergreen snapped, swatting at the bow. "You'll put someone's eye out." Evergreen was dressed as a rock star, with a pink sleeveless shirt that ended just below her breasts, a black and gold skirt, black and pink boots that went up to just above her knees, and a red a silver guitar. Beside her was Elfman, whose costume consisted of a pink and white checkered apron with red frills and a cute little bear head in the middle.

"Nice costume," Lyon snickered.

"Shut up!" Elfman bellowed.

"You aren't really one to talk," Lisanna, who was really just in her gym clothes, pointed out. She wasn't wrong, either. Lyon was wearing some sort of red and white skintight jumpsuit, with a bright orange visor. Lyon flushed.

"It was Merudy's idea," he mumbled.

"Indeed it was," Ultear said, as she and Merudy entered the scene. Ultear was dressed as a schoolteacher, and Merudy looked like a hip-hop dancer. "An excellent choice, if you ask me." Lyon scowled.

"Gray's wearing something similar," Merudy said. "Only it's black and purple, to match his hair. He doesn't have a visor, though."

"How'd you get him to do that?" Lucy asked, surprised. Gray's usual Halloween costume was something half-assed, like a bed sheet ghost or a toilet paper mummy.

"Juvia-chan did," Lyon sighed dreamily. "You should see what _she_ 's wearing."

"Punishment?" Virgo asked, hopefully. It made sense, though. Juvia was dressed as a dominatrix, showing off her figure and simultaneously giving every straight guy and gay girl a nosebleed. She also had a whip.

"Down." Lucy said flatly. Virgo pouted. Gajeel, dressed as a cop, snuck up on Gray and Juvia, handcuffing the two together. Juvia squealed. Gray was too busy pretending not to be staring at Juvia's thighs. Pantherlily, dressed as a Roman centurion, just sighed and shook his head. Mirajane, dressed as a _miko_ , and Bickslow, who was just wearing a bright green t-shirt with the Fairy Tail symbol, laughed.

"What the hell did I just walk in on?" Erik asked. He was dressed as a traditional vampire, albeit one with a giant snake accompanying him.

"You brought your snake too?" Mest, dressed as a soldier, asked.

"Of course he did," Sorano said. She was dressed as a mummy, with her little sister, Yukino, dressed as a nurse. "Now then, soldier," she purred, leaning forward and giving Mest a clear view of her chest. "Wanna help me get these bandages off?" Mest turned red.

"She lllliiiikes you," Happy, dressed as Zeus, teased. There was a silence.

"Duh," said Carla flatly. She was perched in Wendy's arms, dressed as a strawberry. Wendy herself seemed to be dressed as a ninja of some sort.

"Where's Natsu-san?" Sting asked. He was dressed as a butler, and appeared to be escorting Princess Hisui, who was dressed as a maid.

"I haven't seen him," Wendy replied. "But if Happy's here, so is Natsu-san."

"You're darn right I am!" Natsu declared, strutting forward! He wore a button-down red shirt, a blue jacket with the Fairy Tail symbol over his heart, grey pants, brown shoes, and his usual scarf. "I've got the best costume here!"

"What are you, exactly?" Rogue, who was wearing a suit identical to the one Frosch usually wore, asked. Frosch was there as well, completely bare save a little pink frog plushie held tightly in the little green Exceed's hand.

"I'm Natsu!" Natsu declared. Lector scowled.

"Well, one of us is going to have to change!" the Exceed proclaimed. He was, unsurprisingly, ignored. Cana fell off her chair, giggling drunkenly. The brunette woman was wearing an extremely revealing kimono, and she held a hand fan. Next to her was Gildarts, who appeared to be dressed as a prince without a crown.

"It should be you," Zeref told the Exceed. "You don't really look like Natsu." The Black Mage was dressed as Santa Claus. He even had a sack slung over his shoulder.

"Why are you even here?" Lector asked. Zeref shrugged.

"I was hoping someone here would kill me," he admitted. "That, and Mavis invited me." He gestured across the room towards the young ghost, who was flitting about in her bee costume.

"Since you're here and no one's dead, I'm assuming you aren't going to kill anyone," said Levy. "In which case I'd like to ask you to help me decipher this random stone tablet I found under Gajeel's bed." Levy was wearing a dark blue swimsuit. She was also holding a giant inflatable green dolphin.

"Why were you in Gajeel's room?" Igneel asked.

"Why are you alive?" Levy retorted.

"That's fair," the fire dragon acknowledged. "I'd also like to know how I managed to fit in here." Igneel had apparently decided to go as Acnologia. Since he was a dragon, however, his costume was just a nametag that said: 'Hello! My name is Acnologia!'

"Beats me," said Acnologia, who was dressed as Igneel. "But hey, I've got two arms again." Gray perked up.

"If Natsu's dad is back, does that mean my dad's coming back too?" he asked hopefully. Makarov, who was just driving a tiny car, snorted.

"Don't be foolish, Gray," he scolded. "Kagura's brother came back, though."

"Really?" Kagura asked, lighting up. The girl had gone as a mermaid, which meant that she wasn't really able to move around, since she had gotten a bit too into the costume-making and now had a tail.

"Yup!" said Simon. "I'm a ghost!" Kagura stared at her transparent brother.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." She said dully. He gave her a weak smile.

"Sorry."

"Aw, you two get to see each other again!" Jenny squealed, completely missing the point. She was wearing a light purple bikini top with a matching skirt and a lei with yellow flowers. There was a red flower in her hair.

"And you are?" Mira asked skeptically. Jenny giggled.

"Silly girl, I'm a bikini model!" she said. "A _Hawaiian_ bikini model!"

"That was the last shoot," Mira pointed out. "We did that one two days ago, together." Jenny scowled at her.

"Quiet, you," she sniffed.

"Ah, what lovely young ladies!" Ichiya said. Erza made for the other side of the room. Since she was already on the other side of the room, she ended up walking into a wall. Jellal steadied her. Ichiya was– actually, it didn't appear to be Ichiya at all. It was instead a robot version of the eccentric man. Since Jura seemed to have replaced himself with a statue, no one questioned Ichiya's sudden mecha-ness. Lucy turned when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey there, Blondie," Flare murmured shyly. Lucy smiled at her friend. Flare was dressed as a very skimpy cowgirl, her long sunset-colored hair tied into a thick braid that fell past her ankles.

"Hey, Flare," Lucy replied. "Love the costume." The redhead smiled.

"Has anyone seen Kinana?" Laki asked, her voice muffled by the grizzly bear outfit she was wearing.

"Isn't she with Erik?" Merudy asked, confused.

"That's Cubellios, honey," Ultear replied. "Kinana is his girlfriend."

"I thought they were the same person," Merudy mused. Macbeth snickered.

"A lot of people think Erik got Cubellios because she reminded him of Kinana," the duel-haired man said. "But, actually, it's the other way around – Erik asked Kinana out because she reminded him of Cubellios."

"…That's great," said Laki. "But where's Kinana?"

"Up here!" Kinana called. The group looked up at the ceiling of Lucy's mansion.

"I don't see–" Millianna, dressed as a cat, began. Then, Kinana opened her eyes.

"I decided to go as Lucy's ceiling!" the purple-haired girl declared. Mouths dropped. "I super glued myself up here, though, so I'll need some help getting down."

"You win," Minerva said faintly. "That is easily the greatest Halloween costume ever." Macbeth frowned.

"I wanted to win," he mumbled. Carla blinked.

"There was a contest?" she asked. Lucy sighed.

"Could someone please tell me how we managed to fit over fifty humans, two Celestial Spirits, a ghost, five cats, two people who logically can't be here, and two dragons in one room?" Lucy asked. "I mean, my family's house is big, but this is _my apartment_."

"Don't worry, it was me," Brandish said. Lucy closed her eyes.

"Today is making less and less sense." She muttered. "You might have managed to fit all these people in here, but I still want an explanation for Igneel, Simon, Ultear, and Zeref." Zeref raised a hand.

"Is now a bad time to mention that Jackal said something about dropping by?" he asked. Everyone stared at him.

"Wait, do you mean–" Erza started to say. And then the house exploded.

*An hour or so later*

Jackal stared sadly at the wreckage of the party, moodily kicking a scorched corpse. If only he'd been a little earlier…

"Who the hell blew up this party?" he demanded. "That was my job!" Someone stabbed him through the chest.

"Eisenwald will rise again!" Erigor cheered.

 **AN: …I don't know what the fuck just happened, really. I think I got really, really, really,** _ **really**_ **high without noticing. I guess this is the Halloween special, so… uh, happy Halloween, I guess. I finished this earlier than I thought I would… I'm still not uploading it until the 31** **st** **, though, so I don't know why I'm telling you any of this. Oh, and everyone was fine. Zeref's magic came back and he accidently resurrected everyone who died. Erigor was sent back to jail. Again. And no, Eisenwald never rose again. Half the people who appeared in this chapter will likely not be mentioned at all throughout the rest of this fic, so their appearance here was entirely pointless. I almost broke the fourth wall, but I decided not to. I figured the characters would just assume that the weirdness surrounding them was just the standard odd stuff that happened around Fairy Tail. This chapter was mostly just me describing their costumes… this is probably the worst Halloween special ever, but it's still a better love story than Twilight. Oh, and the characters that didn't show up had other things to do. Max was having a make out session with Broom, Sherry was writing a love song for Sherria to sing with Wendy, the Trimens lost a drinking contest with Bacchus (dunno why they agreed…), etc. Happy Halloween!**


	14. Angels Fly Low

**AN: You know, Halloween's great fun, isn't it? So, now that that's done with, let's have some misery – as in,** _ **boatloads of angst**_ **. I don't know what the point of this chapter is, really, but I kinda felt like I should write this. We haven't really had an angsty chapter yet, so I really wanted to fix that. I don't know… well, enjoy!**

Story the Fourteenth: Angels Fly Low

Ever since joining Crime Sorcière, Sorano had wondered exactly what "atonement" meant. She didn't regret the things she'd done, but she was no longer proud of them either. For her, a state of uncertainty was the worst place to be. Sorano liked to know what was going on – liked to be in control of the situation. She didn't like losing, to herself or anyone else, but lately it felt as if victory was something that was just as out of reach for her as her dream of becoming an angel.

She wasn't really one for alcohol, but right now seemed to be a good time to get wasted. Telling herself that it was probably just her period, Sorano walked into the bar. It had been a while since she'd openly been in a public place, but nowadays everyone knew what the blue cloak meant, so no one bothered her. She sat down at a barstool, ordered a drink, and waited. To her right, a slightly tipsy man was flirting with a very drunk blonde girl. She didn't look too interested.

"Go away," the girl to her right mumbled. "'M drunk." The man leered at her.

"Come on, sweetheart," he drawled. "I saw your match at the Games. That costume is just _asking_ for–" Sorano stood, sending the man a death glare from underneath her hood.

"Leave," she said quietly. The man looked like he was about to argue, but one of his friends grabbed him and dragged him off, muttering something about not wanting to get into a fight with one of _them_. Crime Sorcière had gotten some sort of reputation around these parts, it seemed.

"I don' need yer help," the drunk girl muttered. Sorano rolled her eyes.

"Women aren't objects," she said coolly. "I didn't just do it for you, anyway. My boss would kill me if I let a innocent little girl like you get raped."

"I'm twenty-six," the girl snapped. "I can take care of myself."

"Obviously," Sorano sneered. Her drink arrived, and she took a sip, wrinkling her nose. "I hate alcohol." She added.

"Why are you here, then?" the blonde girl asked, seeming to sober up slightly.

"I just felt like getting wasted," she admitted. "I'm Sorano, by the way."

"Jenny," the other girl said, shaking her hand. Sorano felt her throat tighten slightly as she saw the blue guild mark on the girl's shoulder.

"Blue Pegasus?" she asked. Jenny nodded. "I thought you guys had your own bar." The blonde laughed.

"We do," she admitted. "But none of this stuff – it's all romantic wine and shit."

"Sounds boring," Sorano noted. "So what's a fancy-schmancy hostess doing in a rough-n-tough bar like this?" Jenny shrugged.

"I got into a fight with my boyfriend," she said. "It was stupid, really."

"What kind of fight?' Sorano asked, more out of boredom than anything else.

"It was about his ex," Jenny told her. "I feel like a replacement, sometimes."

"How so?"

"Well, she had really long hair, and she didn't wear a lot," Jenny recalled. "But I never really understood why she was so popular, though. She was pretty, yeah, but she always had this look on her face – like somebody was constantly waving a piece of dog shit under her nose." Sorano snorted.

"Sounds like quite a catch," she quipped. "But men are like that. They're more interested in the T&A department than anything else." Jenny laughed.

"That's true," she agreed. "Karen had a great rack, or so I've heard."

"Karen, huh?" Sorano asked, looking at her drink. "Karen Lilica?"

"Yeah. Did you know her?"

"You could say that."

"I see." Jenny took a swig of her water and wiped her mouth. "Thanks for talking with me, Sorano. You're a lot nicer than I thought you were."

"I'm not as nice as you think," the silver-haired woman said quietly. Jenny didn't appear to have heard her. The blonde girl stood, stretched, and made to leave.

"We should get drink together again!" she called, waving over her shoulder. The former Dark Mage watched her leave. Suddenly, Sorano wasn't so thirsty. She put down a few Jewels, and followed Jenny outside. The blonde girl was still smashed, it seemed.

"Do you need someone to walk you home?" she called, amused. Jenny turned around and laughed.

"I don't remember where I'm going!" she giggled, spinning in a circle with her arms spread wide. Sorano shook her head.

"Blue Pegasus isn't far from here," she noted. "I can walk you there, if you like."

"And you said you weren't nice!" Jenny teased. Sorano allowed a tiny smile.

"Maybe I'm a little nice," she admitted. "Only sometimes." The walk wasn't very long, and Sorano didn't bother to enter the guild. She knew better.

"I'll see you around!" Jenny called. Sorano shrugged.

"Maybe," she replied. "Though hopefully under less creepy circumstances." Jenny laughed, smiling at her.

"I'll see you around," she repeated. "Thanks for talking with me!" Before Sorano could respond, Jenny had closed the door behind her. Sorano tilted her head back to stare at the sky. Maybe redemption wasn't as hard as she first thought.

As soon as Jenny was inside the building, she walked straight over to Hibiki.

"Jenny, I–" he began. She held up a hand.

"I'm sorry," she said, quietly. "I know I'm not a replacement. I was just being stupid. I know you miss Karen." Hibiki looked down.

"I know she wasn't a great person," he admitted quietly. "But I did love her. You get that, right? But she's gone, and you're here, and that's what matters." She kissed him.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," she told him. "You aren't getting rid of me that easily." Hibiki smiled, choosing not to point out that she smelled like alcohol.

"Good," he replied. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." He hesitated. "But I said some pretty stupid things too. Aren't you mad at me?"

"A little," Jenny confessed. "But I ended up talking to a girl I met at the bar I went to, and she cheered me up a bit." Hibiki looked relieved.

"I'm glad to hear that," he said. "She must have been a nice girl."

"She certainly was." Jenny agreed, grinning mischievously. "A real angel."

 **AN: Rather short, but also the first one to focus on an individual character. Not the last, of course, but Sorano is the only member of Crime Sorcière to have killed somebody without being possessed or in revenge. Granted, Richard, Sawyer, and Merudy are the only ones who haven't officially killed anyone, not for lack of trying, but the other murders were different – Jellal wasn't in control of himself when he killed Simon, Ultear wasn't even there, Cobra killed Brain (and many tears were shed over his loss, I'm sure), and Midnight killed Imitatia, who arguably wasn't alive to begin with. But with Angel and Karen, we never saw it happen – we just heard her admit it. All we know is that Karen likely would have died anyway, but Angel sped it up. For me, not seeing that particular murder just makes it that much scarier. Neither of them were particularly nice people, but we have no idea who started that fight, or even why. It's a mystery. We first heard about Karen in the Loke arc, and her murder was only resolved** _ **three arcs later**_ **. After the Oración Seis arc, she wasn't really mentioned until the Alvarez Empire arc, and that was pretty offhand, really. On top of that, it's very possible that, had Loke not prohibited Karen from summoning him, Angel still would have killed her, and Loke would've had to work for her instead. If that had happened, who knows how the Oración Seis arc would have gone? I mean, Lucy probably still would have won, but Loke would probably be a very different character. I don't know; I just think Sorano is a really great character, and I love writing her.**


	15. Friendship, Family, & Lyon's Death Wish

**AN: So, as you'll find out next chapter, I didn't start writing this chapter until I'd already started the Author's Note for the next one. Is there a reason for this? Yes. I forgot about Thanksgiving, and now I need to get this out in a week. Go me. Well, I hope you like the story of our favorite psychos trying to be grateful. God help us all.**

Story the Fifteenth: Friendship, Family, and Lyon's Death Wish

In hindsight, maybe inviting Merudy to Lamia Scale's Thanksgiving party had not been the best idea. Every other member of Crime Sorcière had either gone to Fairy Tail (Jellal and Erik), Saber Tooth (Sorano), an undisclosed location (Richard, probably to meet with his brother), or just stayed home (Sawyer, because he didn't really see the point, and Macbeth, because he had was asleep), and Merudy had been bored. She had considered going to Fairy Tail to see Juvia, but she could only spend so much time listening to rambles about Gray's abs before she reverted back to her old, emotionless self and started stabbing things.

Thus, out of the kindness of his heart (and said heart's appreciation for a nice view), Lyon had invited the Maguilty Sense Mage to join Lamia Scale's festivities. Sure, she was a criminal on the run from the law, but, at this point, nobody really cared about that (in fact, Jellal no longer bothered disguising himself when he went out in public, as not only were people aware of his identity at this point but he often got hellos and thanks for helping out with *insert name of Dark Guild that Crime Sorcière had probably fought off at some point*). In any case, Lyon figured it wouldn't be a huge deal.

He figured wrong.

The first thing to go wrong was that Merudy did not come alone. He had expected that, having extended the offer to bring one of her friends with her, but he had expected said friend to be Sawyer or Macbeth. He had not expected it to be Rustyrose.

"I don't see why Sorano complains about the cloak all the time," Rustyrose said, walking alongside Merudy. "It's rather comfortable, and quite stylish, if you ask me."

"Sorano's a drama queen, always has been," Merudy replied. She pushed open the door to the Lamia Scale guildhall. "Hi Lyon!" she called. "Thanks for inviting me!" Lyon, being a gentleman, nodded politely.

"Thanks for coming," he replied. "And this is…?"

"Oh, this is Rustyrose," Merudy told him. "Rusty, Lyon. Lyon, Rustyrose."

"Greetings," said Rustyrose, waving.

"We used to be in the same guild, and he's considering joining Crime Sorcière," Merudy explained.

"Wasn't your old guild Grimoire Heart?" Yuka asked. Rustyrose nodded.

"Hence why I'm now considering the 'sorry I used to be an asshole guild'," he said. Merudy rolled her eyes.

"Look, the fact that Erik calls it that doesn't mean you should too," she scolded.

"I know," Rustyrose admitted. "But it's fun to see Jellal chase Erik around yelling about false promises whenever I do."

"HI!" Toby yelled, rushing up to them and waving. He nearly hit Yuka in the face.

"Watch it!" the blue-haired wizard snapped.

"Sorry," Lyon apologized, leading Merudy and Rustyrose into the guild. "He's had a little too much eggnog." Rustyrose blinked.

"It's Thanksgiving," the technically-still-a-Dark-Mage pointed out. "Christmas is a month away." Lyon sighed.

"Yeah, well…" he hesitated. "Look, Toby's a great guy, but he's…"

"Not the sharpest knife in the drawer?" Rustyrose asked.

"A complete dumbass?" Merudy said simultaneously. Rustyrose poked her.

"We're guests, Merudy," he reminded. She stuck out her tongue. Lyon just shook his head in amusement – these were two of the most feared of all Dark Mages? Somehow the helmet he'd worn in his Cold Emperor days felt a lot less silly.

The second thing to go wrong was that, although Merudy was unaware of it, Rustyrose had misinterpreted her relationship with Lyon. The reality was that they were friends who were still getting to know each other. However, to Rusty, Lyon's invitation to the party had sounded like an invitation to a date – and he had immediately told Sorano, who had freaked out and told Macbeth and Sawyer, the latter of whom had told Richard, whose thoughts had been heard by Erik, who had promptly told Jellal. In other words, Jellal, Erik, and Sorano had excused themselves from their respective plans, sending Macbeth to Saber Tooth and Sawyer to Fairy Tail (very much against their wills), to stalk Merudy on the date that never was. Lyon pretended not to notice, but they weren't exactly subtle, especially since Erik could hear every word going through everyone's mind and had shoved his entire fist in his mouth (he nearly choked).

The third and final thing to go wrong – aside from Toby getting drunk off what Lyon was almost entirely certain was non-alcoholic eggnog – was Jura deciding that Lyon and Merudy would be a cute couple, and putting mistletoe over their heads.

"It's not even Christmas!" Lyon growled furiously.

"I've never kissed anyone before!" Merudy yelped. Everyone looked at her. "Hey, I've been on the run for seven and a half years. Gimme a break." Ooba, always a stickler for any rules that annoyed her kids, grinned maniacally.

"Christmas or no, if you don't kiss, I'll spin you!" she threatened. Lyon gulped. It was then, luckily enough, that Jellal chose to reveal himself.

"Absolutely not!" he snapped, burning the mistletoe to a crisp. "She is not kissing anyone. Ever."

"Look, Boss, just 'cause you can't admit when you like someone, it doesn't mean the rest of us have to ignore possibilities too," Erik said. At least, that was probably what he'd said – his fist had gotten stuck in his mouth.

"I'm with Jellal," Sorano snapped. "He's too old for her anyway!"

"You guys followed me?" Merudy shrieked, face burning with embarrassment.

"You didn't know?" Rustyrose asked, surprised. "I'd have told you if I'd realized."

"Why are you guys here?" Lyon asked, annoyed. Erik finally couldn't take it anymore – he yanked his fist out of his mouth and collapsed laughing. After a few minutes of the Dragon Slayer's mind-reading-induced heart attack, he finally pulled himself together enough to explain.

"Rusty Nail thought you were asking Pinky on a date," he revealed, still snickering. Sorano glowered at him.

"You thought so too!" she snapped.

"I'm not alcohol!" Rustyrose said at the same time.

"Let me get this straight," Lyon broke in. "You all thought I was asking out a girl I barely know – who just so happened to be a close friend of my previous crush – and thus decided to abandon your plans for the evening and _stalk us_."

"Yes." Said Jellal bluntly.

"Pretty much," Sorano agreed.

"Honestly, I just thought it'd be funny," Erik admitted. Sorano, Jellal, and Merudy gave him a Look. "Okay, fine, I was a bit worried." Sorano draped herself across his back, wrapping her arms around his chest.

"It's 'cause Erik's shy, right?" she sang. Erik struggled against her, and soon the two were rolling on the floor in a mock fight/battle to the death. Merudy sighed.

"I don't need you guys to stalk me," Merudy grumbled, rolling her eyes. "I can take care of my–" And then Sherria, who had at this pointed decided that Lyon was never going to notice her (or had had too much of the non-alcoholic eggnog), pushed Merudy into Lyon. What happened next should have been obvious to even the most dim-witted of irony fans, but I'll say it anyway: they kissed. It was about as smooth as sandpaper and as subtle as a bull in a very small china shop, but it was a kiss nonetheless. What happened after that, however, was rather unexpected.

"Hi-yah!" An old woman with her gray hair in a bun kicked the door down and started whacking Lyon with her cane. A few seconds later, a mostly naked Gray Fullbuster ran into the room, hugged the old woman, and started crying.

Crime Sorcière left quickly, and it was unanimously agreed that nothing that had happened that day would ever be spoken of again.

 **AN: So, that's the Thanksgiving special, and I know it was kind of rushed and I'm sorry. Hopefully, the Christmas special will be better, but I know almost nothing about Christmas, so who knows. I am thankful for you guys being so supportive and friendly. You're the best readers a girl could have, and I'll never be able to explain in words how much I love you guys. You are my precious friends, each and every one of you, and I will always treasure your feedback, positive or negative. I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving, and may *insert name of deity you worship* bless you and your family. Unless said deity is Ankhseram, in which case you should probably avoid a blessing.**

 **P.S. Merudy would see that woman a few more times over the next year and a half, and mostly assumed it was by coincidence. She never realized who it was, but she always got a warm feeling in her chest when she saw her. After the last time she saw the old woman, she sat down and cried, somehow realizing that she would never see her again. Unbeknownst to Merudy, the old woman died on the same day Merudy's first and only child was born. She and her husband named the baby girl Ultear, and, when the girl grew up, her uncle Gray taught her Ice Devil Slayer Magic. Little Ul never knew why, but sometimes when she was in a tough situation, she could look over her shoulder and see two people standing there – a young woman with short dark purple hair and black eyes holding the hand of a young brown-eyed girl with matching hair in pigtails. Both were smiling happily, and they always gave Ul the courage to keep going, no matter the obstacles.**


	16. Sorrow and Joy

**AN: So I posted chapter fourteen about half an hour before beginning this note, although, knowing me, you won't be seeing this one for another month. Fun fact: I actually had chapter fourteen done for about three weeks before I finally got around to posting it. Not because I was editing it or anything – I was just being lazy. So, for a minute, I was wondering what I should do for the next chapter. And then I remembered the Christmas special, and I realized that a Crime Sorcière holiday special was a must. I know little to nothing about Christmas myself, being Jewish (our big holidays, the High Holy Days/High Holidays/Days of Awe, take place at the beginning of Tishri, the first month of the civil year and the seventh month of the religious year; it usually coincides with parts of September and October), but I can try to share some holiday spirit, no? As for when this chapter takes place… I don't know. I was going to have this be chapter fifteen, but then I remembered that Thanksgiving is a thing, so this will be chapter sixteen, okay? That's right, I'm going to write the Author's Note for chapter sixteen, and then go start chapter fifteen.**

 **WARNING: Mentioned torture, suicidal thoughts, and a tiny bit of Jeltear**

Story the Sixteenth: Sorrow and Joy

It was the twenty-fourth of December, not that that was intentional. The irony was not lost on either Ultear or Merudy. They had both wanted to do this earlier, but it had taken careful planning after a month or so of grieving over the loss of lives that had only just begun to mean something to the two of them. The wounds were still fresh in both their minds, and Merudy had actually started trying to get out of bathing because the water made her cry.

But right now, they needed to focus. Merudy was on guard duty, since Ultear wanted to keep her in as little danger as possible. They had almost no time. Most of the guards were at home with their families, so this was pretty convenient for the two criminals. Merudy leaned against the wall as casually as one could when the slightest slip up could get them killed. Ultear, who was not wearing a cloak, took a deep breath and walked into the prison with a malicious smile planted on her face. Later, when the guards looked through the camera lacrima, they would see this as a kidnapping instead of a rescue mission. Not that they'd care, really. The Council hated Jellal Fernandes with a fiery vengeance, for crimes that he did not even remember committing. Even worse, Ultear was the true mastermind behind said crimes – she'd simply dragged Jellal into it.

Ultear hadn't been expecting him to be in perfect shape, but seeing the harsh truth of how much the Council hated the man she'd pinned her crimes on struck her deeper than she thought it would. Jellal was asleep when she found him, but maybe that was for the best. He lay (sat, really) in his cell, with only his head and right arm on the mattress of his cot. He wore raggedy pants and no shirt. Ultear flinched as she saw the marks on his body – some old and faded, from the torture she'd stumbled upon in the Tower of Heaven, but others fresh and new, from the cruelties of his imprisonment. He had lost weight, she noticed, and it wasn't fair because he couldn't have been in here for more than five or six months.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Ultear raised her hand and blew open the entrance to the cell. Almost at the exact same moment, the alarms began to blare and Jellal shot up, fully awake. Wasting no time, Ultear covered his mouth with a cloth, and he, predictably, began to struggle. The drugged cloth and his already poor condition knocked Jellal out pretty quickly. Ultear tossed the cloak she'd brought with her over his emaciated body, and picked him up. It shouldn't have been so easy, she thought as she ran. Jellal had always been physically stronger than her, in part because men had more upper body strength than women, but also because his magic required him to be very fit, whereas hers did not. For her to be able to lift him so easily… he likely had not been allowed to leave his cell at any point during the entirety of his incarceration. If that was indeed the case, Ultear did not want to think of the implications.

Getting out of the prison was ridiculously easy. The only guard that even caught a glimpse of them was clearly drunk, and whatever he yelled at the retreating backs of Ultear and Merudy sounded more like a request for eggnog than anything else. Merudy stopped to catch her breath, but Ultear grabbed her hand and tugged her along. They didn't have time to stop – Jellal could freeze to death if they weren't careful. They ran as quickly as they could, sometimes splitting up and regrouping or randomly changing direction to throw off potential pursuers. They arrived at the cave they were staying in just as Jellal began to stir. Ultear carefully set him down.

"He's smaller than I thought he'd be," Merudy said. "Skinnier, I mean."

"Prison conditions could use some improvement, it seems," Ultear agreed. She knelt down and placed a hand on the young man's forehead. He was warm, but not feverish. She sighed in relief. As she went to pull away, however, a hand latched onto her wrist. Jellal's eyes – somehow green and gold and brown all at once – glared up at her. It would have been more intimidating if he hadn't looked so exhausted.

"Who are you?" he rasped. It sounded like he hadn't spoken much recently. Or, perhaps, the guards had gotten a little too zap-happy.

"I'm Ultear Milkovich," said Ultear Milkovich. "This is my daughter, Merudy."

"You're in a cave," Merudy added. Jellal slowly – painfully slowly, as though every part of his body was aching – pulled himself up to lean against the wall, watching them carefully.

"Why?" he asked. "What am I doing here?"

"We rescued you!" Merudy exclaimed happily.

"Take me back," Jellal said bluntly. Merudy and Ultear stared at him.

"Come again?" asked the Time Mage.

"Take me back," Jellal repeated. "You don't know who you're dealing with. Prison is where I belong." Merudy scratched the back of her head.

"What do we do, Ul?" she whispered. Ultear shrugged.

"We can't take you back to jail," she said, sounding bored. "You'll be executed."

"I deserve it," Jellal muttered. "I'm a monster." The rest of Ultear's heart shattered into a thousand little pieces.

"Merudy, step outside," she said quietly. Merudy glanced between her and the newly freed Jellal and nodded. As soon as her daughter was out of the room, she fell to her knees, head against the floor. "The one who deserves death is me," she said quietly.

"What are you–" Jellal began, but she didn't let him finish.

"Nearly nine years ago, you took Erza Scarlet's place in the Tower of Heaven torture room," she told him. Jellal, who clearly hadn't known this, blinked in surprise. "I– from what I heard, you were in there for days. The guards were complaining because you didn't scream even once. In order to save you, Erza started a rebellion amongst the slaves, but unfortunately for her I got there first. I posed as Zeref, brainwashed you, and forced you to do terrible things. Everything Erza told you that you'd done was really just me pulling the strings. I enslaved your friends. I killed Simon. I'm the one who made Erza cry, all for my selfish desires. I have no words to apologize for what I've done. There's nothing I can say to fix it. Because of me, you're a criminal, your friends hate you, and Erza is gone. If you want to kill me, I understand. All I ask is that you leave Merudy out of it. She's done nothing wrong." Jellal stared at her. She wasn't sure how much of what she'd said had registered with him.

"I don't understand," he whispered. "Why tell me the truth? Why bother breaking me out? What does any of this mean?" Ultear bit her lip.

"It means that I'm the one responsible for the hardship you, Erza, and your friends went through." She stated. "I want to change. I want to make amends for what I've done. I want to go back in time and erase it all, but I can't. My weakness consumed me and I fell into the darkness. My life may not be enough, but if killing me makes you feel better, then I–"

"Being alive is a sign of strength," Jellal said. Ultear looked up. "That's what Erza told me, anyway." He hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure I understand, but I can see that you regret whatever you did. But if you die, won't that girl be sad? I've hurt enough people. I don't need your blood on my hands as well." He looked away. "You should still take me back to prison, though," he said. "Erza won't be happy if she learns I broke out." Ultear felt like she'd been punched in the stomach – it was bad enough that he'd been abused, if not outright tortured, by the prison guards, but for him to not know about the Tenrou Island incident _months_ after it had happened? They were planning to declare the Tenrou team dead in a mere seven weeks, and Jellal didn't even know that they were gone.

"Jellal," she began quietly. "I think there's something you should know."

To his credit, he didn't cry when she told him. He just listened to the story, never interrupting, not even when she started rambling a little, and when she was done he looked up at the roof of the cave without saying anything. Merudy had come back in sometime in the middle of Ultear's story, and Jellal's eyes would occasionally flick towards her when she pitched in about parts of the story Ultear hadn't been there for.

"I see," he said finally. They both hoped he'd say something else, but he kept quiet. He didn't ask to go back to prison, he didn't question some parts of the story that they couldn't fully explain (like how some of the battles had ended), nor did he start yelling at them for their atrocities. He said nothing. And so, they all sat there in silence for nearly an hour, thinking about Gray and Juvia and Erza and Natsu and all the others and wondering exactly what was wrong with the world. Eventually, Jellal spoke. "They aren't dead, though." Merudy's head snapped towards him, her eyes lighting up.

"What do you mean?" the young girl asked hopefully.

"Well, Erza isn't, anyway," Jellal continued. "And if she's alive, the others probably are too."

"How can you tell?" Ultear asked. Jellal shrugged.

"I just know," he said simply. "And she would never let anything happen to the others. Besides, I know Natsu, Gray, and Lucy can take care of themselves. They're stronger than they realize." Ultear nodded hesitantly.

"Yes, but–" she stopped herself before she said anything else.

"What happened to Zeref?" Jellal asked curiously. Merudy shrugged.

"We don't know," she confessed. "I know he got off the island, since he killed Master Hades. We found his body in the airship. He died the same way as Zancrow. It looks like Rusty and Hikaru made it out okay, though." Jellal didn't seem to be paying attention. He had a thoughtful look on his face.

None of them realized it, but it was at that exact moment – the moment that the clock hit midnight, and Christmas Eve became Christmas Day – when Crime Sorcière was truly born. They had fallen, but they would rise from the ashes, reborn. And they would wait for Fairy Tail to return.

 **AN: Am I the only one who realized that there's a** _ **lot**_ **Erza didn't tell Jellal? I'm sure it was due to lack of time, but he didn't know he'd done anything good aside from saving Wendy, and… yeah, it's not going to be fun for him to remember that that wasn't him. Again, I don't know a lot about Christmas other than how annoying hearing all those songs on the radio gets, but I hope this got across a little bit of holiday spirit, melancholy or no.** **Thanks for reading!**


	17. Things Man Was Not Meant to Hear

**AN: I'd like to dedicate these next two chapters to my anonymous reviewers, Le Potato and TanaSoho. You two have been unbelievably helpful. Le Potato, your positivity and consistent reviews give me life, and TanaSoho, your criticism and helpful pointers have been superbly supportive. So, Le Potato, this one is for you and that little prompt you sent me, and TanaSoho, I'll bring in Ultear next chapter just for you. Thank you two so much for everything. I love hearing from you.**

Story the Seventeenth: Things Man Was Not Meant to Hear

If there was one thing Erik hated– actually, no, he hated a lot of things. This just happened to be one of them. Visiting Fairy Tail wasn't close to the top, but it did piss him off. Sure, he got to see Kinana, but… in this case, the negatives outweighed the positives by a lot. Macbeth was talking to Laki, and both of them looked far too interested in whatever the hell they were talking about for anyone else in the vicinity to feel at all comfortable. Sorano was talking with Mirajane and Lucy, Richard had gotten into a discussion with Levy and Gajeel (the topic of which remained a mystery, even though Erik could hear their thoughts), Kinana was serving drinks, Sawyer had gotten into a fight with Jet about who was faster (which abruptly ended when Cana had flatly pointed out that Jellal was faster than both of them), Merudy and Juvia were giggling about various things (mostly abs), Jellal and Erza were pretending not to like one another, and Erik was sitting next to Jellal considering the pros and cons of lobotomy via soup spoon.

And then, Mira, Sorano, and Lucy all burst into laughter. A few heads turned their way, but most people just accepted it as part of the daily bustle in Fairy Tail. Erik meant to continue ignoring them until one of Mira's thoughts shoved itself forward.

 _Those two would look so cute together_! He heard her think. He groaned. More matchmaking, it seemed. He caught a glimpse of Jellal flickering through Sorano's thoughts, and grinned to himself. He was almost completely certain they were talking about Jellal's relationship with Erza, which they had dubbed 'Jerza' (which was silly, in Erik's opinion, as there was no way in hell Jellal was topping anyone, though he acknowledged that there wasn't really any other way to put their names together), and that usually meant blackmail material. His ears twitched slightly as he started focusing on their conversations. But then–

"I mean, I know he's got a thing for Erza," he heard Lucy say, "but I've never seen him interested in another girl."

"Merudy says he never looked at her or Ultear," Sorano added. "And from what I've heard, Ultear wasn't bad-looking."

"Definitely not," Lucy agreed. "So, you think he's gay?"

"Totally!" Mira giggled. "I guess Erza's the exception that proves the rule."

"I'm thinking pansexual," Sorano argued. "I bet he's just got a thing for redheads."

"Does that mean he'd be interested in Natsu?" Lucy wondered.

"Natsu's hair is pink, not red," Mira pointed out. Sorano laughed.

"Maybe he's got a thing for recklessness, then," she joked. The girls giggled together. Erik groaned. Jellal's sexuality was something even he hadn't been able to figure out, so he doubted they'd get it. Literally anyone could see that he and Erza were head over heels for one another, so who the hell else could they possible 'ship' him with?

"What should we call this one, then?" Lucy asked.

"What, Jellal and Natsu?" Mira asked, staring. "I mean, we could call it 'Jeltsu' or 'Nalal' or 'NaJel' or something." Erik snorted – those were dumber even for Mira.

"No, Jellal and _Erik_ ," Lucy corrected. Erik choked, spat out his water (it was too early to be drinking), and fell out of his chair all at once.

"Erik!" Jellal yelped, jumping out of his seat. Erza leapt over the table.

"Are you alright?" the armored woman queried. Erik twitched.

"Kina," he said hoarsely. She looked over at him.

"What's up?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"I need to be drunk. Stat."

 **AN: So, as you might have guessed, Le Potato's prompt was "what if Mira and Lucy shipped Jerik" (which, as some of you may know, is my OTP), and I added Sorano and Erik overhearing them to that mess. Thus, we got** _ **this**_ **mess. Anyway, Erik remained traumatized for the rest of the day. Sorano eventually figured out that he had overheard them, and teased him relentlessly. Sadly, Jerik never happened.**


	18. The Wayfarer of Time

**AN: All right, TanaSoho, this one's for you. I hope I can write Ultear well here. Let me know what you think. Thank you so much for all your help! Warning: Spoilers for Chapter 474.**

Story the Eighteenth: The Wayfarer of Time

When she was a baby, she was a daughter. When she was a child, she was a test subject. When she was a teenager, she was a Dark Mage. When she was an adult, she was an atoner. When she was old, she was a savior. And now, she wasn't any of that.

Even though she was technically no longer a part of Crime Sorcière, the tattoo on her back still marked her as one of them. Merudy and Jellal might not know she was there, and that was fine – probably for the best, really. She had watched, terrified that she would be forced to see the at least semi-deranged woman kill three little girls, and then suddenly time had stopped.

"This is my world," the woman – Dimaria – said. Ultear smiled.

 _Don't worry, girls,_ she thought. _She thinks you can't move. Let her keep thinking that until you need to dodge_. She saw all three of them twitch slightly. They had heard her. She smiled. Dimaria swung her blade, and Wendy leapt out of the way.

"Sherria!" she cried out.

"Wendy!" the other yelled in response.

"Paternal Sky Arrow!"

"Maternal Sky Arrow!" The two girls threw themselves forward, much to the shock of the Spriggan.

"Just now… I heard a voice in my head," Wendy murmured.

"Same here," Sherria agreed.

"A distortion in time has arisen," Ultear said, revealing herself. "This place is a valley within the fabric of the time-space continuum. You thought that you lived alone in that world? That it belonged to you? That is where you were gravely mistaken… this is my world as well." Carla's eyes widened.

"You…" the Exceed murmured.

"This is the jail of time," Ultear declared. "For your sins, I shall bring down the hammer of justice upon you; in the name of Crime Sorcière!"

It was good to be back.

 **AN: I'm sorry if that wasn't as good as you'd hoped. It seems that writing Ultear isn't my strong suit. XD Anyway, I hope this was at least decent, and I'm sorry if it wasn't. I'm so excited that my babies are back~**


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